Mac and Linux: See which processes are using the Internet

Kind of a handy or at least mildly interesting tool for seeing what processes/programs are using your Internet connection on your Mac or Linux machine.

Windows 7 report card: The hits and misses

One of my biggest concerns, as I went on the record stating several months ago with regard to Vista, is the fact that the UI is so different. Not that users aren't capable of learning new tricks, it just isn't in their interest and shouldn't be their primary focus unless it yields tangible benefits. I can't, in good conscience or with certainty say that an overhauled navigation system is to their benefit.

Jason Hiner's article does a nice job of summing up many IT managers' concerns about changing out the operating system.

Windows 7 report card: The hits and misses: "

Windows 7 officially launches on October 22, so it’s time for TechRepublic’s review of what Windows 7 does well and where it still misses the mark.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

To say there’s a lot riding on Windows 7 would be the understatement of 2009. The PC industry is counting on Windows 7 to unleash pent-up demand for new computers - among both consumers and businesses. Microsoft needs Windows 7 to restore the tarnished image of its OS after the Windows Vista debacle. And, IT departments need Windows 7 to be faster, more compatible with the latest hardware and software, and more manageable.

So does Windows 7 deliver? That’s a question that we’ll be talking about a lot over the next year, and external factors will influence the ultimate outcome, including economic trends, corporate budgets, and the ever-evolving needs of users.

But, focusing on the software itself, it’s time to make a few judgment calls about Windows 7. Let’s look at where it hits the mark, and where it misses.

Hits

• A slimmer OS
  
  The best part of Windows 7 is addition by subtraction. In other words, it’s not the stuff that Microsoft put into the new OS, it’s the stuff they took out. Microsoft developers clearly spent a lot of their energy streamlining the underlying code in Windows 7, because compared to Windows Vista, Windows 7 installs much faster and has a smaller footprint. That’s why Windows 7 can be installed on minimal hardware such as netbooks and nettops, something not possible with Vista. Microsoft has also taken out software such as Windows Mail and Windows Movie Maker in favor of making them free downloads. That’s a very good trend.


• Power sipping
  
  I’ve reports from the field of IT pros who have installed Windows 7 on laptops and tablets that were previously running Windows XP and they quickly noticed up to 30% better battery life. That was even before Microsoft’s Rob Bernard started publicly talking about the power savings built into Windows 7. This has the potential to be a killer feature for business adoption, because it can save companies a lot of money in aggregate and the battery issue can boost the productivity of road warriors.


• Less UAC pain
  
  One of the worst features in Windows Vista was User Account Control (UAC). UAC was designed with good intentions as a security enhancement, but in practice it was far too noisy and resulted in users simply clicking it blindly to make it go away. UAC is not nearly as noisy in Windows 7, thankfully.


• More tools for IT
  
  Windows 7 includes some new tools and enhancements that will be warmly welcomed by IT professionals, including Problem Steps Recorder, enhanced projector compatibility, Biometric device integration, and PowerShell v2. For more, see 10 cool tools in Windows 7 and Five features that will make you love Windows 7.

Misses

• Taskbar changes
  
  The default installation of Windows 7 includes a drastic change to the behavior of the Windows Taskbar and it’s not a change for the better. While there are ways to tweak the Taskbar’s behavior to make it pretty useful, most users will never change the defaults and they’ll be stuck having to make more clicks and spend more time scanning to find things that were fast and simple in Windows XP. For example, I often have multiple message windows open in Microsoft Outlook, and in XP I could quickly get to the one I needed with a single click because they were all shown on the taskbar. In Windows 7, I have to click the Outlook icon and then make a second click on the item - if I can identify it among the group of useless thumbnails of all the Outlook items I have open. Ultimately, the new default Taskbar feels like a poor knock-off of the Dock in Mac OS X and it feels like it’s skewing the Windows design toward light users who only use a handful of apps, at the expense of heavy users who typically have lots of apps and windows open.


• OS and data still on same partition
  
  One of the worst things that the default installation of Windows does is to load system files and user data on the same partition. This has always been the case and Windows 7 has perpetuated the problem. I’ve publicly petitioned both Microsoft and Apple to change this with their respective operating systems. At the very least, the default installation of the OS should create two partitions, one for the system files and one for user data. That way if there’s ever a system failure, you can blow away the OS and reinstall it and when you boot back up all of the user files and data will still be there on the data partition.


• Needs more imaging tools
  
  One of the IT tricks that became very popular during the Windows XP era was system imaging, where IT departments configure one machine, build a software ‘image’ off that configuration, and then use that image to replicate the company’s standard configuration across all of the computers that use similar hardware. While Microsoft still pushes methods like unattended installs, system imaging has largely become the standard method of doing mass installations. Microsoft has done a few things to make imaging easier in Windows 7, but the company could have gone a lot further. The software giant could have built functionality into Windows 7, Windows Server, and System Center that allowed IT pros to create system images in a much more granular and flexible manner in order to better adapt to hardware changes and company policy changes.


• Missing cloud integration
  
  For all of Microsoft’s ambitious talk about Azure and ‘Software+Services,’ there’s almost no online services integration in Windows 7. This is a huge missed opportunity. Microsoft could have done simple things like providing a Windows Live service for backups to automatically backup a person’s My Documents folder. This would have given Windows 7 a reputation for being well-connected and ahead of the curve. It’s possible that anti-trust concerns may have tempered any of these types of efforts, but whatever the case may be, it’s an opportunity that was squandered.

For the latest on Windows 7 and other tech topics, follow my Twitter stream: @jasonhiner

Final verdict

The best thing I can say about Windows 7 is that it does a better job of simply getting itself out of the way, which is critical in an era where the OS is becoming less important. The fact that the Windows 7 code is leaner and that the new OS can make PCs more power-efficient are factors that will play well with IT departments.

Of course, Windows 7 isn’t all good. Microsoft still hasn’t fixed the problem of system files and data on the same default partition. The new Taskbar changes will confuse a lot of users. And, Microsoft has missed a big opportunity by not showing off the potential of ‘Software+Services’ in Windows 7.

Ultimately, because Windows 7 is more efficient, because so many consumers and businesses have delayed PC purchases, and because Windows 7 takes advantage of the latest hardware (such as the speedy Intel Core i7), I expect it to methodically displace Windows XP as the world’s widely-used OS over the next 24 months.

"

(Via Tech Sanity Check.)

Using DHCP Reservations to overcome Bonjour woes

Not just for Macs and Bonjour but this is true for LOTS of computers & networks!

Using DHCP Reservations to overcome Bonjour woes: "

Filed under: Cool tools, How-tos, Airport

I love everything about my MacBook Pro, but for some reason it does not like to share its screen. It appears under the 'Shared' section of the sidebar in Finder, and file sharing works perfectly, but for some reason screen sharing won't work. The 'Connecting To 'MacBookPro'' panel will pop up and then disappear a few moments later (as if it is about to connect), but at least 90% of the time no screen sharing window appears.

Fellow TUAW writer Aron Trimble suggested that I go into Finder and try 'Go > Connect to Server' and then put in 'vnc://10.0.x.x' (where 10.0.x.x is my MacBook Pros IP address). That worked immediately, and every time.

This confirmed that it wasn't a firewall setting (Screen Sharing is explicitly on) or trouble accessing the MacBook Pro over the LAN (file sharing already worked perfectly). For some reason the screen sharing connection was just not being made over Bonjour.

The only drawback to this direct-IP method is that my network, like most, uses dynamic addresses with DHCP, meaning that the IP addresses change from time to time, especially on a network with multiple devices which are not always turned on. My first thought was to create a static IP for the MacBook Pro in System Preferences > Network, but then I realized that my office LAN uses IPs which start with 192.168.x.x. I could create a new network 'Location' but that would also involve manually switching it back and forth, or using a third-party program.

What I really needed was a way to make sure that my MacBook Pro is given the same IP every time it connects to my home LAN. Fortunately, Apple's Airport Extreme will allow me to do just that using DHCP Reservations.

A DHCP Reservation tells the Airport Extreme to reserve a certain IP address for certain computers, as determined either by a 'DHCP Client ID' or the computer's MAC address. A DHCP Client ID is easier to remember than a MAC address, but the MAC address will never change unless you swap out the logic board or Airport card of your Mac. I'll show you how to set it up using either method.

Continue reading Using DHCP Reservations to overcome Bonjour woes

TUAWUsing DHCP Reservations to overcome Bonjour woes originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 16 Oct 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sponsored Topics:
MacbookPro - Bonjour - TUAW - Apple - Local area network"

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

PsExec

Handy little toolset for running remote commands on other Windows computers on Daily Cup of Tech.

Excerpt below....

For those of you who know the power of the command line, you also know that it is really useful to be able to run some of these command line tools remotely. There are a number of different ways to do this. I would like to share with you a couple of my favorites.


PsExec

If you are not familiar with PsExec, then this is going to be a bit of a revelation for you. PsExec is a freeware program that allows you to execute a command on a remote machine. If that command is a command line program, it will send the output of that command back to you.

The real trick comes when you run the command console. Try this command:

psexec \\RemoteComputer cmd.exe

where \\RemoteComputer is the name or IP address of the remote computer (Make sure you use the \\ otherwise the command will fail.)

What this does is connect to the remote computer and then open a command prompt on the remote machine. You can then work with this new command prompt and it will execute all of your actions on the remote system!

In order for this to work for you, you need to have the admin$ share active on the remote computer (which it is by default) and you need to have account information with administrative access to the system. This is mainly used in situations where you have a Windows network and you are the administrator of the network.

Techradar Windows 7 Review

Nice comprehensive review of Windows 7 on TechRadar.

Windows Vista and Can't Redirect a User's subfolder

Came across this one recently....

Vista Business user, joined to a domain and has a laptop. The laptop was added to an OU that has redirected folders but that wasn't working for the user. Moved him to an OU where home folders weren't redirected and everything went back to normal except the Pictures folder. We couldn't manually redirect it through Pictures/Properties/Location either, it still had the network location.

I had created a separate OU with explicit redirection essentially turned off (the GPO specified local hard drive), rebooted a couple of times, manually applied gpudpate but still no luck.

I eventually found the following instructions for a similar issue here.

1. Goto: Start Menu > Run > Type regedit

2. Goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders

3. Edit String: 'Personal' > Change to the Drive/Folder that you want as 'My Documents' (contains all your user folders, i.e. Music, Pictures, etc.).

4. Close and Restart Your Computer.

Installing Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7

Installing Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) for Windows 7: "

What are Remote Server Administration Tools and where can I get them?

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 are a package of administration tools add-ons that allow IT administrators to manage roles and features that are installed on computers that are running Windows Server 2008/2008 R2, and Windows Server 2003, from a remote computer that is running Windows 7.

Petri Recommended: Update to the Latest Vista Drivers

Vista's performance can be improved dramatically by installing the latest Vista-Certified hardware drivers. PC hardware manufacturers release new, improved Vista drivers continually: New versions are probably available for your PC right now.



Petri IT Knowledgebase Team

>> Download Driver Detective: Our recommended Vista driver update scanner (5.1Mb)

Note: RSAT is similar in concept, although not in function and method of installation, to what was known as the 'Adminpak' in Windows Server 2003/XP days, which could be found in the %systemroot%\system32 folder of the server (or downloaded separately - see links below).

Another important note: This version is NOT compatible with Windows Vista. To install and use RSAT on Windows Vista (if you're one of the few that actually have Vista... LOL), you'll need to use Vista's specific version.

Download details: Microsoft Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9FF6E897-23CE-4A36-B7FC-D52065DE9960&displaylang=en

RSAT for Windows 7 includes support for remote management of computers that are running either the Server Core or full installation options of Windows Server 2008 R2, and for some roles and features, Windows Server 2008. See download links below.

Note that some roles and features on Windows Server 2003 can be managed remotely by using Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7, meaning you can use tools such as Active directory Users and Computers, DNS or DHCP management tools and so on, but not all tools will work against Windows Server 2003, and even if the tool works, there might be specific functions that will not function. Therefore, in order to manage a Windows Server 2003 network, use either a Windows XP-based workstation, or use RDP to connect to the remote servers and manage them directly, if possible. Read these articles for more information:

• Download Windows 2003 SP2 Adminpak


• Download Windows 2003 R2 Adminpak


• Extract Specific Tools from Adminpak.msi

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 can be installed on computers that are running the Enterprise, Professional, or Ultimate editions of Windows 7, and they run on both x86- and x64-based editions of Windows 7. they can them be used to manage roles and features that are running on either the Server Core or full installation options of the x64-based Windows Server 2008 or 2008 R2 operating system.

Some of the tools included are Server Manager, Active Directory Certificate Services (AD CS) Tools, Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) Tools, Active Directory Lightweight Directory Services (AD LDS) Tools, DHCP Server Tools, DNS Server Tools, File Services Tools, Hyper-V Tools, Terminal Services Tools, BitLocker Password Recovery Viewer, Failover Clustering Tools, Group Policy Management Tools, Network Load Balancing Tools, SMTP Server Tools, Storage Explorer Tools, Storage Manager for SANs Tools, Windows System Resource Manager Tools.

Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 should not be installed on a computer that is running the Windows Server 2003 Administration Tools Pack or Windows 2000 Server Administration Tools Pack. Prior to installing the RSAT package, please make sure that you first remove all versions of Administration Tools Pack or Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows Vista SP1 from the computer before you install Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7. Furthermore, only one copy at a time of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 can be installed on a computer. Before you install a new package, remove any existing copies of Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7. This includes any copies that are in different languages.

To download RSAT for Windows 7, use these links:

Note that you need to choose either a 64-bit or a 32-bit version NOT based upon the OS version of your servers, but based upon the OS version of your Windows 7 workstation(s).

64-bit version of RSAT for Windows 7 (222.1 MB):

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/F/7/4F71806A-1C56-4EF2-9B4F-9870C4CFD2EE/amd64fre_GRMRSATX_MSU.msu

32-bit version of RSAT for Windows 7 (215.1 MB):

http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/F/7/4F71806A-1C56-4EF2-9B4F-9870C4CFD2EE/x86fre_GRMRSAT_MSU.msu

Please note that the above links are for the RTM versions, and not for the smaller sized RC versions!

How to Install Remote Server Administration Tools (RSAT) on Windows 7

After downloading either the 64-bit or 32-bit version, based upon your needs, you will then install it on any Windows 7 system that will be used to remotely manage your servers.

Note: In order to use RDP to manage your servers you do not need to install anything! The RSAT package will allow you to connect to the servers on your network as though you were using one of the tools on one of your servers, and allow you to perform all the management tasks on your network.

Another very important note: The RSAT package uses local network connections and, in most cases, the RPC protocol, but NOT just RPC, also a large bunch pf protocols and Firewall settings. This protocol is not easily passed through a Firewall (although it can be passed, it's all a question of configuration). Therefore, if the Windows 7 workstation used to manage the servers is INSIDE the SAME physical LAN, you will probably not have any issues connecting to the servers and managing them. However, if the Windows 7 workstation used to manage the servers is OUTSIDE the physical LAN, and connecting to the servers through some sort of WAN connection AND through a Firewall, you will probably not be able to connect to the servers. In this case, what most administrators will do is either use RDP to connect to these servers, or, when possible, use some sort of VPN or SSL-VPN connection to the network.

Getting back to the topic of this article, here are the complete instructions:

You must be either a member of the Administrators group on the computer on which you want to install the Administration Tools pack, or you must be logged on to the computer by using the built-in Administrator account.

1. Double-click the downloaded file to start the Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 Setup Wizard. Follow all the steps through the installation (basically it's 'Next' all the way to the 'Finish' button...)

2. Next, click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Programs. In the Programs and Features area, click Turn Windows features on or off.

If you are prompted by User Account Control to enable the Windows Features dialog box to open, click Continue.

3. In the Windows Features dialog box, expand Remote Server Administration Tools. Select the remote management tools that you want to install. Click OK.

If the Start menu does not display the Administration Tools shortcut you will need to configure it:

• Right-click Start, and then click Properties.


• On the Start Menu tab, click Customize.


• In the Customize Start Menu dialog box, scroll down to System Administrative Tools, and then select Display on the All Programs menu and the Start menu. Click OK. Shortcuts for snap-ins installed by Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 are added to the Administrative Tools list on the Start menu.

Reinstalling or removing individual Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7

If a remote administration tool was removed from a computer that is running Windows 7, you can install it again by performing the following steps.

To reinstall individual remote administration tools:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Programs. In the Programs and Features area, click Turn Windows features on or off.

2. In the Windows Features dialog box, expand Remote Server Administration Tools.

3. Select the remote management tools that you want to install, or clear the check boxes for any tools that you want to remove. Click OK.

Removing the complete Remote Server Administration Tools for Windows 7 pack

Again, you must be either a member of the Administrators group on the computer from which you want to remove the Administration Tools pack, or you must be logged on to the computer by using the built-in Administrator account.

You can remove the complete Administration Tools pack from a computer by using the Uninstall a program utility in Control Panel.

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Uninstall a program in the Programs area.

2. Click View installed updates.

3. Select Update for Microsoft Windows (958830).

4. Click Uninstall.

"

(Via Petri IT Knowledgebase.)

Add more visual effects to iChat and Photo Booth

A cool tip on adding the visual effects....

Add more visual effects to iChat and Photo Booth: "There is a fairly large collection of Quartz Compositions stored in /System/Library/Compostions, including all those used for iChat, Photo Booth, iTunes Visualizers, and iMovie Effects. Many of them have no apparent purpose in any of the above, and yet, are fully compatible with iChat and Photo Booth if it weren't for the presence of a couple of hidden flags.



I've gone through and tested all of them to find those that would work, and removed a few that just wouldn't work right or were just plain boring. The list of 24 I ended up with add three panels of visual effects to both iChat and Photo Booth. The list is as follows:



ASCII Art, Blue Print, Blur, City Lights, Color Controls, Color Invert, Compound Eye, Concert, Copy Machine, Crystallize, Dot Screen, Exposure Adjust, Film Stock, Gamma Adjust, Kaleidescope, Line Overlay, Line Screen, Monochrome, Neon, Pixellate, Pointillize, Posterize, Sharpen, Swing, Tracer, Zoom Blur



To make these files work, ...











"

(Via MacOSXHints.com.)

Working with Keynote builds

Handy article about working with Mac Keynote Builds....

Working with Keynote builds: "

Filed under: Software, How-tos, Productivity, iWork

In Keynote (and also in PowerPoint), a build refers to the appearance and/or disappearance of elements (such as text, bullets, images, audio and movies) within a given slide.

Working with builds is relatively straightforward. You select the item(s) that you want to create a build for and then choose the order to activate or deactivate each element. These controls are accessible via the Build Inspector pane, which you can get to by clicking on Inspector button or with the Command-Option-i keyboard shortcut. By default, builds are activated by a click with your mouse, or via the spacebar or right-arrow key on your keyboard.

There may be times when you want to add some creativity and more Steve-ness to your builds, and automated builds provide you this functionality.

In this picture, I have three elements that I want to 'build in,' or have appear, on the screen. I want 'Who?' to show up first, 'What?' to show up second, and 'I don't know' to show up third

Using the Keynote defaults, these elements would show up in the order that I click: 'Who?' after the first click, 'What?' after the second click, and 'I don't know' after the third click.

But let's say I wanted 'What?' and 'I don't know' to automatically appear in sequence after I click on 'Who?' To do this, I just need to change the 'Start Build' options of both elements. For the 'What?' build, instead of choosing 'On Click,' I'm going to choose the 'Automatically after Build 1.' And for the 'I don't know' build, I'm going to choose 'Automatically after Build 2.' Now, 'What' and 'I don't know' will automatically build in after 'Who?' is clicked.

One neat thing about automatic builds is that they can apply to 'actions' as well. So if, in this baseball example, we want the elements to move to different bases after a build, we would apply the same 'Automatically after...' logic to them.



Got more Keynote tips (or want more)? Let us know in the comments.

TUAWWorking with Keynote builds originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Fri, 09 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sponsored Topics:
Keynote - Keyboard - Mouse - Keyboard shortcut - TUAW"

(Via The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW).)

Remotely Pull your Servers' Serial Numbers and Model Numbers

Found this recently on how to remotely extract your servers' model and serial numbers....

And if you want to get other information about your server, including BIOS version, try this.