Technical Reviews and Geek Toys

Awhile back I wrote about the new HP Compaq 6710b laptop I purchased. It came with Windows XP installed which was fine because I am totally Anti-Vista. I think I have made it pretty clear that the only reason I am running Windows is because so many web-apps and other programs require it. I installed Firefox so I wouldn't have to use IE and I have been pretty fortunate to have not had to deal with being infected with a trojan or other intrusive software. Well the other night that changed. I clicked on a link to get a updated version of some software and obviously wasn't paying close enough attention and the next thing I knew here was a pop-up saying my computer was infected. Well, that grabbed my attention because the pop-up was from XP Anti-virus 2009. This is a nasty parasitic rogue security software application which when installed replicates itself to the point where it will totally take over. I have seen pop-ups on infected web sites where a pop-up comes up saying your computer is infected and "click here" to run a virus check. Click on it installs the trojan so DON'T CLICK ON IT!

Fortunately, I was quick enough and had PC-Doctor already installed. PC-Doctor blocked its access to the Internet and after a couple of reboots, I think it was removed. But that was it. There are other options...

Last Friday, version 8.10 of the Kubuntu linux distribution was released. I downloaded the desktop version which creates a bootable CD to allow one to play with Kubuntu without installing it. I was pleased with what I saw. I have been using Sun xVM VirtualBox virtulization software to run Windows XP as an application in Kubuntu for some time and it really works well. I looked at all of the Windows software that I have to use and the web-apps that I use that requires IE and determined there was only one thing that I had to check before I was ready to wipe and install Kubuntu on the laptop.

I use a Keyspan USB to Serial Adapter and although I have used it on previous versions of Kubuntu, I wanted to make sure it would really work. This version of Kubuntu will actually install while inside of Windows. It installs itself as an application I believe and allows one to either boot on Windows or on Kubuntu. I guess I am a little vague here because I installed it and booted into Kubuntu to check the keyspan device. When it worked... no problem. I immediately rebooted and installed Kubuntu. This is so sweet..... everything works. The wireless device immediately saw my network and after I put in my passkey I was connected. I installed Windows XP inside of virtualBox and it works.

I am just so pleased with this new version. I has some effects built in for those who need some eye candy. (I must fall into that category because I think the effects are pretty cool.) Here is a screenshot tour. If you prefer to not have to login, the system can be configured to login automatically.