Windows 7: The Good, The Bad, and The Unknown

For most people who are considering moving to Windows 7, October 22 is D-Day. On that date Microsoft's newest operating system lands on store shelves, both as a shrinkwrapped upgrade and preinstalled on new PCs. For some folks, though, D-Day has already arrived. Microsoft has issued the final RTM (release to manufacturing) version of Windows 7 to large companies that buy Windows via volume licenses, as well as to IT pros who belong to its Technet service. The Windows Vista era is officially drawing to a close--although you could argue that it never really quite started--and the Windows 7 one is under way.

And that promises to be a good thing, whether you're a satisfied Vista user, a disgruntled one, or a Windows XP holdout who has been waiting for something better. Windows 7 feels like an anti-Vista: Unlike that OS, for instance, it doesn't try to dazzle you with flashy new visual effects. With the removal of Vista applications such as Photo Gallery and Movie Maker, Win 7 actually does fewer things than Vista did. Even its unprepossessing name is a change from the epic-sounding monikers that began with the unfortunate Windows Millennium Edition.

But Windows 7's lack of glitz is a huge part of its appeal. Unlike the increasingly chaotic and annoying Microsoft OSs that preceded it, Windows 7 is designed to stay out of your way so that you can get stuff done. It smartly addresses Windows annoyances both new (User Account Control) and old (the system tray). And the final version I've been using seems to realize the promise of the rough drafts we started testing last October.

Windows 7 isn't without its warts, but I haven't been so impressed by a new Microsoft operating system since Windows 2000 debuted close to a decade ago. Here's a quick look at some of its best features, a few drawbacks, and areas where reserving judgment makes sense. (Much more PC World coverage is on its way, including an in-depth review with speed benchmarks, upgrade tips, and Windows 7 system reviews.)

The Good...

The OS is less piggish: One of the many regrettable things about the initial version of Windows Vista was that its signature feature--the splashy Aero environment--was too much of a resource hog to run well on many early-2007 PCs (even those that had been promoted as Vista-capable). The PC World Test Center hasn't benchmarked the shipping version of Windows 7 yet--stay tuned--but all signs point to this OS being sprightly enough to perform decently on all current systems, including those allegedly underpowered, pint-size machines known as netbooks.

The taskbar has been reinvented: It's amazing how little the taskbar and its system tray have changed since Windows 95. In Windows 7, they both undergo sweeping, long-overdue makeovers. For the most part, the results are extremely pleasing.

The new taskbar's default style does away with text labels and relies solely on program icons, therefore making better use of screen space. Its thumbnail previews--an improvement over Vista's--work well even when you have multiple windows open for one application. And the new Jump Lists feature gives you right-click access to context-sensitive menus of options (such as the ability to play shuffled music in Windows Media Player) even before you've launched an application. Even the nub on the right edge of the taskbar, which you can click to reveal the desktop, is a welcome, subtle enhancement. (One taskbar quibble: The border around running apps in the taskbar isn't a clear enough cue to distinguish between them and those that aren't currently active.)

The system tray--which is officially called the notification area, although I don't know anybody who calls it that--is no longer one of Windows' most aggravating "features." When you install new applications, any associated system-tray applets are cordoned off in a holding pen, where they can't clutter up the tray and can't use word balloons to pester you with information that you may or may not care about. You can also choose to have an applet appear in the system tray but in bound-and-gagged form, so it can't pop up messages. Microsoft has also dramatically reduced the volume of distracting messages from Windows itself, courtesy of Action Center, which queues up system alerts so that you can check them out at your convenience.

UAC is now tolerable: Windows Vista introduced User Account Control, which tries to warn you of attempts by viruses and other malware to tamper with your system. But it essentially has two settings: So Annoying You Click Without Thinking, and Off. In Windows 7, you get two intermediate settings that alert you only if a program changes settings, with or without the melodramatic screen-dimming effect. This new version is such a reasonable approach that it's even more mysterious how Microsoft could have botched the Vista version so badly.

Libraries collect your files: For years, Microsoft has tried to train Windows users to store all of their personal files in one place, helpfully providing a folder named My Documents for that purpose. Many of us blithely ignore the suggestion and store stuff willy-nilly around our hard drives. A new feature called Libraries splits the difference by giving you virtual folders for documents, music, photos, and videos that combine the contents of whichever folders you specify into one unified view. The Pictures Library, for instance, can show all your photos even if they're stored in a dozen different places. Still, there's room for improvement--Libraries would be even more useful if they were integrated with the existing Saved Searches feature, which creates another, separate form of virtualized folder.

The Bad...

HomeGroups are disappointing: HomeGroups sound like a nifty idea--a way to share folders full of media and documents between PCs across a network, so you can peruse photos stored on a desktop in the den from your laptop in the living room, for instance. But Microsoft's implementation is surprisingly half-baked: Rather than letting you specify a password during setup, for instance, it assigns one consisting of ten alphanumeric gibberish characters and tells you to write it down. And HomeGroups work only if all the PCs in question run Windows 7. A version that also worked on XP, Vista, and--dare I say it?--Macs would have been far cooler.

Windows Update can still shut you down: There's no reason to believe that Windows 7 will require less patching than earlier versions of the OS. If you use Windows Update the way Microsoft recommends, however, your computer may still demand that you shut it down so it can update itself, or it may decide to devote an extended amount of time to installing updates when you try to reboot it. In the largely compliant and considerate Win 7, this aggressive approach to updates is a flashback to Windows' pushy past.

You can't upgrade Windows XP: If you want to upgrade a PC from XP to 7, you'll need to start anew, reinstalling all of your apps and re-creating your settings. (Windows Vista users can opt to install 7 on top of their current OS, although not in every possible scenario.) Microsoft's decision not to enable XP-to-7 upgrades is defensible--a fresh install will probably be more reliable than one plunked down on top of XP's eight-year-old underpinnings--but it will scare off some XP users who would probably love Windows 7 once they got it up and running.

...and the Unknown

How bad will compatibility issues be? Windows 7 looks and works differently than Windows Vista does, but below the surface it isn't radically different. That should make for fewer headaches with incompatible drivers and software--and indeed, it helped even the earliest Windows 7 preview versions run surprisingly smoothly for prerelease operating systems. But as millions of people install Windows 7 on an endless array of PCs, undoubtedly some of them will encounter problems that Microsoft didn't anticipate. (I've run into setup quirks and driver issues with the Windows 7 RTM version myself, but I've been able to work around them--by installing from a USB drive rather than a DVD, for instance.)

Will hardware companies take to Device Stage? This new feature gives your printer, camera, and other peripherals information centers of their own, which hardware manufacturers can customize with features such as links to online manuals and troubleshooting tools. But unless companies invest the time to build useful Device Stages, this could be another Microsoft bright idea that doesn't go much of anywhere. Also, parts of Device Stage look short on substance (giant photorealistic renderings of your peripherals!) and others look potentially irritating (printer companies hawking ink cartridges right inside your OS!). All in all, I don't think it'll be a tragedy if Device Stage doesn't catch on.

Is touch input a boon or a boondoggle? Windows 7 is the first version of the OS with special support for multitouch input--for example, if it notices that you've opened the Start menu with your finger rather than the mouse pointer, you'll see a roomier version of the menu that takes less precision to navigate. Of course, all of that requires a multitouch-capable PC, and only a handful (such as the upscale HP TouchSmart) are on the market. Windows 7's arrival might prompt a profusion of interesting new touch-enabled PCs--but even then, what we really need are interesting touch-enabled applications. (Microsoft's touch demos have tended to feature such ho-hum uses as fingerpainting in Windows' own Paint program.)

The Bottom Line

Last year Microsoft tried to repair Windows Vista's reputation by pretending it was a new OS code-named Mojave and getting focus-group subjects to say nice things about it. If the company had released a Vista back in 2007 that was as pleasant to use as Windows 7 is, the OS might never have had image problems in the first place.

Even when an OS upgrade is as appealing as this one, it makes sense to proceed with caution. Many of the people who grab Windows 7 at the first possible opportunity will be happy they did. But I suspect that some of the folks who wait a bit more--installing the new OS only after other people have discovered unexpected glitches with applications and drivers--will be even happier. And if you're using an aging PC, it's perfectly sensible to hold off on Windows 7 until you're ready to buy a brand-new system that's designed to run it well.

My advice for Windows users, then, is this: Get Windows 7, but on your own schedule. It'll be ready when you are--and you'll almost certainly consider it an improvement over whatever version of Windows you're using now.

Resources: http://www.pcworld.com/article/169849/windows_7_the_good_the_bad_and_the_unknown.html

Top 10 Seo tips

Here's an article for you people out there that like the "do it yourself" approach when it comes to SEO. Sure, you're going to get less results than a pro company, but you've still got the bucks.

So here are the tips.

1. Do not purchase a new domain unless you have to!
   Don't expect to rank high very fast if you choose a new domain.
2. Your target visitors are more important than search engines.
   First take care of your customers, and take look after search engines.
3. Carefully pick your keyphrases.
   Know what your visitor look after, and take advantage of that.
4. Make your website crawler friendly.
   No flash, javascript or session ID's.
5. Label your internal text links and alt tags on images as descriptively as possible.
   Pick the right anchor text for your links.
6. Keyword rich content.
   Write fresh and unique content.
7. Take special care of you pages' title tags.
   Be careful on the most important meta tag of them all.
8. A little bit of on-page SEO.
   Bold and italic text, headings as well as folder and files name, all need your attention.
9. Make your site link-worthy.
   Build a good image among other webmasters.
10. Quality link building.
    One way links are what you're looking for. Reciprocal links are less valuable, but don't refuse them. Stay away of link farms.

That's just about it. Follow these guidelines and you should do better in your optimization.

Would You Like More PageRank?

The higher the PR of your site the higher will be its search engine position. So the goal is to get lots of sites linking to your site. But quality is much more important than quantity. The higher the PR of the sites that link to yours the more they boost your sites PR.

When planning your effort, always remember than one link from a PR-6 or PR-7 site is worth indefinitely more than hundreds of links from PR-0 or PR-1 sites.

In addition, you should aim to include your link on pages with as few other links as possible. Pages with over 25 links have little value. Additional factors that go into the algorithm include the amount of different sites that point to yours (10 links from 10 different sites count much more than 10 links from the same site) and the inclusion of your keywords in the text of the links.

As a general rule of thumb, a one-way, high PageRank link will give your site a PR two points below that of the linking page. So a link from a PR-8 site should get your site a PR-6. However, at the lower end of the scale, I have seen a PR-5 turn a new PR-0 site into a PR-4.

The effects of having a high PageRank (PR)

Most industries, market niches and business sectors only have a PR5 or PR6 site as the top ranking result. The implication is that you can dominate a niche or local market on search engines without investing too much money or time. For example, you can buy keyword rich text links on networks of sites that have a PR of 8-9 for $ 500-2,000 a month. Doing this is likely to get you a PR of 6 or 7 right out the gate. The implication is that your site will appear as number one when users search Google for key phrases related to your market niche.

Where to start

Before starting to actually work on improving your PR, be sure to install the Google Toolbar on your browser. The Toolbar shows a value (on a log scale) of 0-10 for each website that corresponds to the underlying PR of that page. The average website with little or no marketing support is typically PR1 to PR3. Google is updating the PR level it displays in the Google Toolbar about once every three months so patience is required until you can see the results of any PR building campaign.

Internet and network marketing that is similar

Let’s say you have signed up with a new internet business opportunity. You have your website, and you have done all the promotional stuff search engine optimization, built an opt-in mailing list, post on forums, write articles the whole nine yards. Then you wait. Maybe an order or two trickles in, but after a while, that dries up, if it ever happens at all.

So, you try a couple of new tactics, redesign the page, join a couple more forums, try some free classified advertising and sit back again. Same thing.

Now, at this point, 99.99999% of new internet marketers or network marketers are going to throw in the towel and start telling anybody they meet that internet marketing and/or network marketing is a scam rip-off!

Here’s a fact for you. It is going to take time to make your home or internet business successful. Even if you are doing all the right things, success will probably not come to you overnight. Even if you DO the right things, you are more likely to be successful if you KEEP doing them!

It’s sort of like pushing a rock up a hill. You pushed it, you moved it, and the place you are trying to get to with the rock is closer, but you aren’t there yet. As you continue to push, you may hit rough spots or slick spots, and even slide back down the hill from time to time, but if you keep on pushing, you will eventually reach a spot where things change.

With pushing a rock up a hill, it’s the crest of the hill. You just keep doing what you’ve been doing, and the rock will reach the crest of the hill. Depending on the slope of the downhill side, and the speed with which you were pushing when you hit the top, and the snags that might get in the way, you will find pushing the rock just got easier, and you might not even be able to catch up with it at all.

There’s a spot in internet and network marketing that is similar. You’ve been placing the advertisements, writing the articles, visiting the forums with little or no signs of success. Then, one day, you find that you’ve made a sale. The next one might be a day or a week away, but you keep doing what you’ve been doing and they get closer together maybe even several in the same day.

You have finally reached the tip-over point. That’s the point in which all that you have done has pushed your home or internet business onto a plane where it almost seems like it has a life of its own. However, if you quit doing what you’ve been doing, things might slow down or come back to a stop.

People in multi-level marketing (MLM) sometimes get to really see the tip-over in a way that non-MLM people seldom do. I’ve had friends in multi-level marketing who spent all their time trying to sell product and just recruited the occasional new down line member. As commonly happens, most of these people fall by the wayside and never really produce anything. However, if enough people have been added to the down line, it is likely that some quality producers will emerge. When enough of these people have been added and they have gotten their collective feet on the ground, they can make a network marketing, or internet marketing, business grow by leaps and bounds.

I often mention my two friends who became millionaires in two different network marketing programs. Neither made tons of money from their own sales. Both took between three and four years to hit their tip-over point. When it arrived however; when they had enough people in their down lines that were producing income and building THEIR down lines, that’s when my friends saw their checks skyrocket. One month, one was showing me a check for over $25,000.00. Two months later, he got one for over $50,000.00. A few months after that, he was making over $100,000.00 a month!

Do You Think Use the Internet Marketing to Buy Products?

I have been doing Internet marketing now for almost two years. I did not have a clue as to what I was doing. I ended up spending a lot of money, and experienced a lot of frustration by not getting the financial results.

The frustration led me to do a lot of research online and I have found a solution - products, actual products.

You will open a whole new world for yourself as an online marketer, if you consider what I am saying. Go to a mall or a school and look around. How many people there do you think are Internet marketers? May be a handful? How many? It definitely isn’t the majority of people, right? Now, consider this, how many of those same people do you think use the Internet to buy products? Half? More than half? I would say almost 90% have gone online to at least buy a DVD or CD from Amazon or something from eBay. Does that sound right to you?

Most people in the world are not trying to make money online. Most people have jobs and go online to find out information or buy, that’s it.

After a while as an online marketer, you will find you are advertising to other online marketers. That means that YOU ARE LEAVING OUT A LOT OF PEOPLE, as in the above example, you are going for the handful of people and leaving out the majority of people who are potential buyers. For more details you can login to www.internet-marketing-word.com. There are many, more people who are information seekers and purchasers than there are online marketers. By sticking with affiliate programs, you are leaving untouched a whole wealth of people.

My friends, you are leaving heaps of money on the table!

Solar e Business offers you a great solution and way to start collecting that heap of money off the table.

Solar e Business gives you a powerful way to combine the best of both worlds. This business, you will find, appeals to online marketers and it gives you an avenue to tap into ways to make even more money.

Once you join as a free member, you will get a web site that you can use to begin promoting your Solar e Business - and it appeals to all of those people who do want to make money online. But more importantly, the auto-marketing system will kick in and begin building your down line for you. This an extremely powerful marketing tool for you because your down line that also has joined for free will get to see real results by viewing the number of new free referrals joining and the number of paid members increasing daily.

Watching a program succeed by watching the new members roll in and members upgrading sells itself for you. Your down line can see for them, just as you can, that this is a real and viable business.

As an upgraded Solar member, you will get a second web site. Guess what it is? How about your own store to sell products? See where we are going here! You’ve got a site that appeals to online marketers and now you are going to own your very own online store that’s selling whatever you chose to all of those people who are buying products online. for more details you can login to www.secretly-spy-your-internet-competition.com. You have now broadened your scope from being just an affiliate marketer to an online store owner and you are now positioned to appeal to two groups of people which together adds up to millions of online users every day.

Broaden your scope and horizons with Solar e Business. By joining, you are getting two web sites that appeals to a wider range of potential customers for you and what that means for you is limitless financial income. Smart online marketers see this and that is why they are joining Solar e Business.

source: http://www.article-buzz.com/Article/Do-You-Think-Use-the-Internet-Marketing-to-Buy-Products-/290740

Increase Your Website Traffic With SEO

SEO stand for Search Engine Optimization. In an SEO campaign, your website is better optimized for search engines to crawl, index, and send you traffic. Since not all traffic is the same, targeting your traffic so that the visitors that come to your website are the ones most interested in using your services is essential.

SEO includes on-site and off-site techniques of increasing traffic from the search engines.

On-site SEO
On-site optimization involve restructuring your code, so search engines can read it better, faster, and understand what your websiteÂ’s message is. Some of things that are altered and tested in an ongoing process include the title, images, captions, textual content, videos, tags, JavaScript coding, meta tags, and CSS files. The right balance of coding and structural changes is needed to rank better in the search engines. Simply having a search engine friendly website is going to be a huge plus when it comes to gaining traffic.

One of the most important SEO techniques is updating your website. The search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Ask, and MSN love updating content, since it shows that the website owners are serious about keeping customers informed and up to date on the latest information.

Example, what would happen if you went to a news website such as CNN.com, and it didnÂ’t have the latest updated news. It had stories from 2 days, 2 weeks, or 2 months ago? You probably will not go back there for news, since it isnÂ’t fresh.

Ever industry has this “freshness” factor. News sites for example, should be constantly updating throughout the day, so their freshness factor has to be very high. Other websites such as encyclopedias, and dictionaries, don’t need a high freshness factor. Every industry is different. At Karma Snack, we take this into consideration when doing your on-site search engine optimization campaign. We have copyrighting services that allow your website to stay fresh with new content so you can keep up with your competition.

Off-site SEO
Off-site optimization involves sending traffic to your website from other websites. The traffic comes in from backlinks (links that link “back” to your website). Search engines see the amount of backlinks as an important factor for your search engine rankings. The more backlinks to your website, means your website is more important. Simply having more backlinks to a website can increase your traffic from the backlinks itself, as well as traffic from the search engines.

Within your Karma Snack Internet marketing campaign, you will gain backlinks from web directories, article directories, social bookmarking sites (Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, etc), social media websites (YouTube, Facebook, Myspace, etc), and Web 2.0 websites (Twitter, Merchant Circle, Yelp, etc). The more places you are found on the online which backlink to your website, the faster your traffic will grow.

Not All Traffic is Created Equal
At Karma Snack, we differ in the methods in which we get you traffic. Not all traffic is equal. For example, Digg traffic is notorious for being high, fast, but poor at converting. The main reason is the traffic from Digg comes from passive traffic, they are not really looking for your services, they just happened to see something interesting on your website. Digg traffic is known for coming to your website, visiting 1 or 2 pages, and then leaving immediately since they are not your targeted audience for your services.

When a visitor visits 1 page of your website and leave this is referred to as a Bounce, the goal of any online business is to have a low Bounce Rate. Having a low bounce rate is achieve by having targeted traffic going to your website, since this will increase the chances of your traffic converting into sales.

Traffic from an article that you have written, images that you have posted on photo website, or videos that you have posted on video websites are going to have a lower bounce rate, since people that are viewing your content are more likely interested in your services. The key, and where Karma Snack Internet marketing is superior is the knowledge of what traffic is best for your targeted audience, and will convert into revenue. To learn more about how Karma Snack can help increase your online revenue contact us today.

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