nStation

I use Microsoft Paint occasionally. Its features are limited and functionality is basic. But for regular people, Paint seems to be the tool of choice for a random doodle or running an office captioning contest. Readily availability can’t be the only reason. Hear goes my two cents on the matter. More »

Paint.NET (paint-dot-net, or PDN) is probably the best freeware out there for quick and easy pixel manipulation for Windows. Although it doesn’t boast Photoshop or GIMP like features, simplicity and super-fast startup time makes it a modest substitute for a fully blown graphics application. The PDN plug-in repository makes it even more interesting with a whole array of great plug-ins. This post is about 7 interesting plug-ins I stumbled upon while exploring the plug-in repository (Forum) that may be potentially useful web designers and UX designers alike. More »

A man goes to a store, sees something nice (say, a teddy bear), checks whether it is available elsewhere for a better price and eventually buy it for the lowest price available. A man sees a computer game, checks its price, if the price isn’t lower than a few bucks, pirate it over his internet connection or borrow a copy from a friend. That’s the background of most modern software pirating stories. The teddy bear analogy is used here for the sake of simplicity and proof of concept whist regardless of the commodity we may use in comparison, software pirating is happening at an unbelievable rate. More »

I used to be a OneNote fan. From a short ‘to do’ list to a lengthy ‘how to’ article was captured on OneNote. Those days are gone. Surfaced again is EverNote; the product Microsoft (almost) killed with their vivid note taking tool. This time however it has bubbled with all the timely features. You can write a note once and access it from anywhere in the world. But if you prefer not to put your sensitive data out in the cloud, you can simply choose not to do so. The facility of syncing notes with a portable USB drive is also part of the package. Long live the notes war! More »

I am an all-time portable app user. If there is a portable app version of a software package I like, I’d go for it rather than the installer package. Most of these applications are easy to use, free or open source and well written. What most users don’t realize about portable apps is that they do not require a portable USB drive or a portable hard disk to work with; they work like any other regular windows application. So this post is in a way, a testimonial on portable apps and how I use them to ease the burden in reinstalling applications on Windows machines. More »

Microsoft is the best source when it comes to good windows user experience etiquettes. This post is about another good example from Microsoft on providing appropriate feedback to the user.

I experienced this as I was installing the Windows Live Mail program on my laptop. After I started the setup program I notices two very interesting messages appear on the setup dialog box that actually made me smile.

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One of the interesting RSS feeds I subscribe is Giveaway of the Day. February 24th Giveaway of the Day is Typing Assistance; a software tool that gives word suggestions as you type leaving no misspelled or mistyped words. The irony here is that a comment made on the Typing Assistance’s page led me to a similar open source software called AllChars. AllChars seems to be a mature enough candidate that does a very nice job for heavy-duty users of the keyboard. Funny, how a commercial source directs me to a non-commercial open destination. Indeed another good example of the open and connected nature of the Internet.

I stumble upon many software packages with silly names. In my opinion the name is the single most important attribute of a software package. Despite its brand value the name should be clear, legible, and easy to use. The name should signify the type of usage. In layman’s terms the name should say it all. Names like ‘Child Control’, ‘Ape Ripper’ and ‘IsItUp’ would possibly confuse the user on the corresponding software package’s typical usage. More »

Note: My attempt here is to show the negative impact of Microsoft Windows Genuine Advantage program on users. I do not hate Microsoft. I love most of their products.

I despise Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA). Even cooperates are uncomfortable with the extra burden. In my opinion WGA is an annoyance to users. The simplest update or hot-fix available on the Microsoft website requires a validation.

There have been numerous gigs on “what if Microsoft made …” – the most circulated being a notable urban legend with a comment made by General Motors in response to the Bill Gates’ COMDEX address where he compared the auto industry to the computer industry. This post is about what if Microsoft made automobiles with WGA. More »