Oct

19

Introducing Windows Vista ReadyBoost

Filed Under Windows Vista | Leave a Comment

So what is Windows Vista ReadyBoost exactly?

Modern day software is more and more resource hungry, in every aspect of computing power.

Demands increase continuously, regardless of whether it’s CPU frequency, hard-drive capacity or RAM memory that we are talking about.

Although a RAM memory upgrade is often desirable, there are cases when it cannot be immediately done. RAM memory is still quite expensive so this may deter some and if you are upgrading an older computer you may have already achieved the maximum amount that can be physically installed.

So wouldn’t it be nice to have a way to boost our computers performance in such scenarios?

Welcome to Windows Vista ReadyBoost!

Whilst physical memory such as RAM is quite expensive there is another form of memory that is far cheaper and that is called Flash memory.

Your computer can access Flash memory around 10 times faster than your hard drive so making it an ideal medium for ReadyBoost technology. Windows Vista can simply use the Flash memory as if it was extra RAM.

Using a Flash memory device such as a USB memory key/stick (called a flash drive by the operating system), Windows Vista can create an intermediate caching layer on the device that logically sits between RAM memory and your hard drive.

This can offer some great system performance gains.

Whenever a Flash drive is detected, Windows Vista will check to see if it is fast enough to be used by ReadyBoost as not all Flash memory available is fast enough. If it passes the test, the user can then allocate some memory for ReadyBoost usage.

However Windows Vista will work out the amount of space is recommended for optimal performance, but the user can choose to ignore this recommendation, using more memory than recommended, less, or none at all. Up to 4 GB of suitable flash memory can be used.

ReadyBoost is analogous to using the pagefile in some ways, but it concentrates on storing different kinds of data. The performance gain depends sensibly on what kind of data you are using. When working with many small files, or when frequently having to access small pieces of data, the performance is sensibly improved. For larger files, the performance gain is often less in my experience.

I have personally seen BIG performance gains on older computers upgraded to Windows Vista, that only had 512 Mb of RAM installed. By adding a 2 Gb flash drive to one of the USB ports and then letting Windows Vista choose the optimal amount of memory to use, the system was notably more responsive when using multiple applications (Internet Explorer, Outlook, Word, Excel and Windows Media Player) at the same time.

The data stored on the flash drive is encrypted using the AES-128 encryption scheme. This ensures that the data is very difficult to decrypt, should the flash drive be stolen.

The entire process is essentially hidden away from the user. Windows automatically manages the newly available memory, and the flash drive can be removed at any moment, without affecting the system.

Although most devices are already supported, some aren’t. Namely, external card readers are not supported for technical reasons, and MP3 players are not supported because Windows does not recognize them as actual disk volumes, but rather for what they are; MP3 player. However, the ReadyBoost team is adding support for new devices.

ReadyBoost is also a very young technology. Although mature enough to ship with Windows Vista, we can expect to see it with several improvements in future versions of Windows or future Windows Vista service packs.

For the technical folk reading this article ReadyBoost consists of two parts. A service in %SystemRoot%\System32\Emdmgmt.dll that runs inside a Service Host process (%SystemRoot%\System32\Svchost.exe). And a volume filter driver (%SystemRoot%\System32\Drivers\Ecache.sys.

When you insert a USB flash device into Windows Vista, the ReadyBoost service looks at the device to determine its performance characteristics and stores the results of its test in the following registry entry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\Emdmgmt

By the way if you are wondering why the notation Emd is used instead of something likeReadyBoost. During development of this technology the working name was simply called External Memory Device, and so Emd is simply short for that!

There is a Adobe PDF download of this article over at:

http://www.instantvista.com/windows-vista-readyboost.html

Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.databucketpro.com

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Oct

19

Introducing Windows Vista Accessibility Features

Filed Under Windows Vista | Leave a Comment

Windows Vista Accessibility Features…

Many years ago, when computers were still at their beginnings, having them available only to a few people was not only acceptable, it was something expected, given the prices and the rudimentary development.

However, this is no longer the case today and one of the most important issues is that of accessibility for all.

We live in a world that has free access to information at the very roots of its existence. The ability to provide information to everyone is very important to our society. As a consequence, most software development companies have employed great efforts to make computers accessible to disabled users of may kinds.

Microsoft made no exception with Windows Vista

Introducing Ease Of Access

The heart of the Windows Vista accessibility features is the Ease of Access Center. The Ease of Access Center is the starting point for configuring every aspect of Vista’s accessibility features. It allows users to quickly access built-in accessibility tools, like the Magnifier or the Narrator, to explore all settings by category, and to get recommendations for how to use the accessibility options.

The last feature is more useful than it sounds in fact: it works by asking the user several questions related to daily tasks (like the difficulties encountered when hearing voices on TV or using a pencil). Based on the user’s answers, a user profile is created, and some basic settings are suggested, settings which can be further tweaked.

An important thing to mention is that, unlike Windows XP, the login screen is also affected by accessibility settings. This was a major complaint, since users with disabilities could generally work on their computers, but had difficulties logging on.

Windows Vista comes with several accessibility-related features, each addressing a certain range of disabilities. Some of these features, like the Magnifier, are quite old, but others are newly-introduced or have been seriously improved.

Features For Vision-related Disabilities

The key to making computers usable for those with poor eyesight is to make the screen content easier to distinguish. Generally, the problems these people encounter are related to poor contrast: they can see the “big picture”, but need some additional help to see “details” — that is, text written in with a smaller font size, or with a color that doesn’t contrast with the background.

There are two important tools for these users: the Magnifier and the High Contrast option. The former sets up a small area at the top of the screen. The region around the mouse cursor is displayed in that area, magnified several times, and thus easier to read. The latter changes the color of the screen content (especially text) to make it more contrasting, and thus making it easier to distinguish.

In the case of more serious vision disabilities, the Speech Recognition and the Narrator come in handy. Speech Recognition can be used as an alternative input method, when the user cannot work with a keyboard and a mouse, and thus cannot select fields by clicking them or launch programs by double-clicking them. The Narrator is a text-to-speech program, which can read on-screen text aloud, as well as describe some occurring events.

Working Without Keyboards and Mice

Although most users are comfortable with a keyboard and a mouse, those who have problems using their hands are certainly not. In fact, there are people who can use their hands normally, but still prefer not to use their mouse to often, in order to prevent some types of RSI (Repeated Strain Injury).

For those who can use the keyboard, but not very reliably, Windows Vista offers two options you may be familiar with; Sticky Keys and Filter Keys. Sticky Keys can be used to press sequences of keys, which can be interpreted as key combinations. Instead of pressing Ctrl, Alt and Delete at once, a user can press them in a sequence, and the system will interpret them as a key combination when Sticky Keys is enabled. Filter Keys does the opposite; it ignores keystrokes that occur in rapid succession, or keys which are held down for a longer time than usual.

For those who have difficulties using a mouse, Vista includes two other useful options, namely the Keyboard Shortcuts and the Mouse Keys. Keyboard Shortcuts are an application-centric feature, used for several years and not only by those with disabilities. Every application includes a set of keyboard shortcuts of its own; key combinations which trigger a certain function. The more usual ones, like the ones for saving a file (Ctrl+S) or closing a Windows (Alt+F4) are standardized, and common to all Windows applications. Mouse Keys, also known to those who have used Windows before, allows the mouse cursor to be manipulated using the arrow keys on the numeric keypad.

Not to be forgotten is the Speech Recognition option, which we already mentioned. Speech Recognition is one of the most advanced features of Windows Vista. Although it requires extensive training, a good soundcard and a good microphone, it can prove extremely rewarding. Many experts consider it to be one of the best speech recognition systems that comes bundled free of charge with an operating system.

One last option users have found helpful is the On-Screen Keyboard. The On-Screen Keyboard displays an image of a keyboard. Individual keys can be pressed using the mouse, and the on-screen keyboard will act just like a real one. This is especially useful to those who can use a mouse, but have difficulties in using the keyboard.

Dealing With Hearing Disabilities

Users who have hearing difficulties will find their own set of dedicated options in Windows Vista. Traditionally, computers use sound effects for various purposes - usually to signal events - but they can easily be replaced.

Generally, they are replaced with visual notifications, by using the Visual Notifications option. Instead of playing a sound when a certain event occurs, Windows will use a visual effect, like flashing the desktop or flashing a window.

The Captions option may also prove of particular interest. Captions are analogous to those used by other equipment, such as fax machines designed for people with hearing disabilities. Animations and video can have a caption bar displayed near them, explaining what is happening or containing a transcript of a featured dialog. This can be useful for those with poor eyesight as well, since they can be read aloud.

Putting It All Together

The accessibility related features present in Windows Vista make it a serious alternative for disabled users over Windows XP. The range of features is quite extensive, and most users will find the option they need is already there. However, an accessibility-related API is available, allowing developers to extend accessibility features and to better integrate their current applications with Windows Vista.

There is a Adobe PDF download of this article over at:

http://www.instantvista.com/accessibility-in-vista.html

Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.databucketpro.com

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Oct

18

Word Press Ping List

Filed Under Blogging | Leave a Comment

So what is a Word Press Ping List?

Many readers of this blog may already have or be looking at creating a Word Press blog.

You spend all that time creating a post (article) and now you want the world to see it!

So you need to let the world know the way to do that is to “ping” the popular websites that want to know about your content. In turn they will then let their users know about it.

These services include Google, Yahoo and popular blog engines.

Word Press contains a section that lists these popular services and when you publish an article it will then attempt to let them know you have new content.

By default Word Press has just one entry: http://rpc.pingomatic.com/ in the box.

I found that this did NOT get the results I was looking for and so have manually entered the following services instead…. then things took off in terms of my blog posts appearing in Google and other popular websites!

The following is my list:

———————————–

http://blogsearch.google.com/ping/RPC2
http://api.feedster.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/ping
http://api.moreover.com/RPC2
http://blog.goo.ne.jp/XMLRPC
http://coreblog.org/ping/
http://ping.blo.gs/
http://ping.bloggers.jp/rpc/
http://ping.cocolog-nifty.com/xmlrpc
http://ping.syndic8.com/xmlrpc.php
http://ping.weblogalot.com/rpc.php
http://pinger.blogflux.com/rpc
http://rpc.blogrolling.com/pinger/
http://rpc.icerocket.com:10080/
http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping
http://rpc.weblogs.com/RPC2
http://topicexchange.com/RPC2
http://www.blogdigger.com/RPC2
http://xping.pubsub.com/ping
http://api.my.yahoo.com/rss/ping
http://ping.feedburner.com
http://rpc.newsgator.com/
http://www.newsisfree.com/RPCCloud
http://blogmatcher.com/u.php

———————————–

It is a modified one from a list I found at http://www.seofeed.com many months ago which I then tested and dropped a few. In addition some research provided a couple of other relevant (and high traffic) services.

Disclaimer: This list is provided “As Is” with no warranties nor guarantees!

Happy pinging…

Marc Liron - Microsoft MVP

Regards

Marc Liron
Microsoft MVP
www.marclironblog.com

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