WLMM is something which is a separate download in the Windows Live suite of applications. It does not come bundled with Windows 7 but can be added in easily.

The last time I tried this software it was in beta form. Admittedly, I hated it. But now the software is finished so I gave it a go. It is far better than it was in beta and a truly completed product.

There is a video below this showing a basic tutorial of how to get simple thing done in WLMM, here’s a few questions answered up front.

Is it the same as the older Windows Movie Maker?

No. The way in which is operates is completely different. It has the ribbon interface seen in the updated versions of the Office suite, Paint and Windows Live Mail. This is an attempt by Microsoft to make everything look similar no matter what you’re using.

Is it better than the older Windows Movie Maker?

Yes. It supports the native import of more formats (like MOV, MP4 and M4A for example), has effects that are much more streamlined and useful and also has other useful bits, such as direct-to-DVD, direct-to-YouTube and so on.

Is there a learning curve with WLMM?

Yes. You will not take to it like a fish to water. But as stated in the video, once you start using it you’ll realize the way in which it works does make sense, and over time you will be able to edit videos faster and more efficiently. The only people who would purposely stay with the old Windows Movie Maker are robbing themselves of a truly good and useful video editor.

See video below for more details.

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Windows Live Movie Maker Tutorial (Video)

Quake Live is an FPS style game that’s completely in-browser, and that means it’s cross-browser/cross-platform compatible.

The plan here is to schedule an event to get a bunch of PCMech readers (yes, that means you’re invited) into the game to see if you guys and gals actually like it or not. Consider it a "mass review" to test out the game along with being able to play with an actual PCMech author, that being yours truly.

From the previous article, I’ve discovered a few things, with the biggest being that if you’re running things that block scripting and Flash such as NoScript or FlashBlock for Firefox, the game will not work. You will need to temporarily disable those for gameplay.

In addition there are several options you can set to make gameplay better per your computer’s specifications, such as adjusting texture detail, full-screen mode and so on. This is accessed in-game by pressing ESC on your keyboard and making the appropriate adjustments. The video below shows you how to do this, so be sure to watch it. Bear in mind you can go higher or lower, so even if you have an older computer, you can disable/downgrade enough stuff to make the game enjoyable and fluid on play.

Note on the video: My frame rate is crappy because my capture software isn’t designed to "grab" high-frame stuff like that. Believe me when I say the frame rate you’ll get will be a million times better and completely fluid.

This video makes note of my Quake Live ID:

http://www.quakelive.com/#profile/summary/frostedside

After logging in to Quake Live, you can add me in as a friend by going to the above link, or you can manually add by searching for the ID frostedside.

See video below for more details. There are also some scheduling notes below the video.

Scheduling notes

As for when I plan on getting everybody in on a game, it may happen this evening (as in today Wednesday November 18) during the PCMech LIVE broadcast from 8pm to 10pm EST.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Quake Live (With Video And Scheduling Update)

1. They’re usually significantly smaller compared to a DOC (especially if there are images within).
2. They look exactly the same no matter what OS you use.
3. It is true WYSIWYG concerning printers. What you see on screen is precisely what will print out on paper.
4. The likelihood of a PDF containing a virus and/or malicious scripting is slim to none. Not impossible, but highly unlikely.

Before getting into SumatraPDF and why I think it’s the best PDF viewer ever, here’s an explanation of why we hate PDF.

What we hate about PDFs aren’t the files themselves, but the reader applications.

I wholly believe that Adobe Reader is evil. Very evil. Why? Well, first of all it’s a 26MB installer file. For a document reader? Yes. What’s in that 26MB? A whole lot of crap you don’t need.

The crapola starts even before you download the file. You specifically have to uncheck a box so you don’t download the "Free McAfee Security Scan."

The Adobe Reader installer as far as I’m concerned tries every way to hijack your web browser by installing a ton of useless garbage. You have to go through the installation procedure very s-l-o-w-l-y, else it will put install a plugin in all your browsers. What happens after that is that on any attempt to load a PDF from a web page, all this CRAP loads up from Adobe Reader asking you a whole bunch of questions on first run, and worst of all loads the PDF directly in the browser. This absolutely scares the daylights out of people because they think the browser is crashing due to the fact Reader is so bloated, huge and takes forever even to get started. And in some instances the browser does crash because of Adobe Reader.

Adobe Reader is evil. Period.

The significantly smaller FoxIt Reader was a good alternative. But now it has promotional banner graphics inside the reader. Evil. And it tries to do the same browser hijack crap Adobe Reader does. Eeeevil. And you now have to very s-l-o-w-l-y go through the installation process just like with Adobe to make sure a bunch of crap (like, oh, I dunno, a useless toolbar) doesn’t get installed. Eeeeeeeeeevil.

FoxIt Reader is now also evil. Sad but true.

Going PDF reader-less

I hated PDF readers so much that I simply uninstalled them and used Google Docs to read my PDF files. That system reads them easily – but with one huge drawback: It’s not the easiest thing in the world to print a PDF out of Google Docs. You’re better off printing direct from a PDF document reader.

Enter SumatraPDF

SumatraPDF has an installer that is only 1.4MB in size. It is free and open source. It does not have any stupid toolbar installers in it. It does not try to hijack your web browsers. The only thing it will ask you is if you want it to be the default reader for PDF files – that’s it.

It is wonderful. All I ever wanted was to just view the PDFs I download, and that’s exactly what SumatraPDF does with no fuss whatsoever.

Can SumatraPDF read all PDF files? Mostly. The only ones it would have a problem with are the super-advanced type with intricate fill-in forms and whatnot. But other than that it will happily read just about any PDF file you load into it.

Example: Let’s say you downloaded Form W-4 from the IRS, which happens to be a PDF:

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw4.pdf

In SumatraPDF:

Loads perfectly. Prints perfectly. And that’s all you ever want out of a PDF document reader.

The only thing you ever hated about PDF files were the readers needed to view them. But after using SumatraPDF, you’ll happily dump FoxIt and Adobe to the curb.

SumatraPDF is the best PDF viewer ever because it opens PDF files with zero hassle and does so lightning quick; that’s why it’s the best (on Windows).

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

SumatraPDF, Best PDF Viewer Ever?

Well, you may get your chance.

Last week on PCMech LIVE, the subject turned to gaming and I said I wanted to give PCMech readers an option to play a game with a real live PCMech author, that being yours truly.

The problem has been that people have different computers that use different operating systems, and it was really difficult trying to find something fun that everybody could play no matter what they used. In addition, I wanted something that was attractive to old and new gamers that was easy to play and be fun at the same time.

Someone (and I’m so sorry but I can’t remember the guy’s user name – forgive me) in chat recommended I check out QUAKE LIVE.

Some of you just read that and thought, "You mean that QUAKE? The one that was so frickin’ cool and super-awesome back in the day?" Yes, that QUAKE.

For those that have no idea what QUAKE is, it was one of the first FPSes (first person shooter) that really made a splash in multiplayer 3D environment PC gaming. This is what LAN parties were made of. It was the successor to DOOM and filled those shoes very well.

Here’s what makes QUAKE LIVE amazingly cool:

First, it’s all in-browser. It runs in Windows, Mac or Linux. All that’s required is a simple plugin download along with registering a free account.

Second, it’s free.

Third, and what I consider to be the best part, it’s stupidly easy to play. The strategy is simple. Join a game and shoot everybody. Pick up ammo and weapons that are in spots around the arena and just keep blasting away. Whoever score the most kills/frags wins. It’s as simple as that.

For the older gamers:

This is QUAKE pretty much exactly as you remember it. You may think in-browser 3D games suck, but with QUAKE it is so, so smooth. Add in the fact that it’s all multi-player’d extreme with ladder rankings and so on, and you’ll quickly see that yes, this is quite an awesome port.

For the newer gamers:

For an in-browser 3D FPS, you’ll be impressed by it. No, it doesn’t have the super-awesome realistic nature of games on XBOX or PS3, but the fact it doesn’t cost you anything and it’s so easy makes it really cool. Trust me, this is no Runescape. This is a true FPS in every sense of the term. And it’s fast. Really fast.

For those who have never played QUAKE:

QUAKE LIVE does have a training mode, and a darn good one at that. If you’ve never played the game, or haven’t played it in years, don’t worry. You’ll get in the swing of things fast n’ easy with this. It follows the same WASD (up, left, down, right) that so many other FPSes use, so it won’t be anything that’s totally unfamiliar.

Quick note before continuing: Yes, it does have a full screen mode.

Is this something you think you’d be interested in?

I’ve been trying for a while to find a game everybody could get into. QUAKE LIVE is looking pretty good right now. It is OS-independent, browser-independent and should run on just about any computer. It’s easy to use, easy to play and has all the right stuff.

If this is something you think sounds good – or not – let me know.

Also be sure to join PCMech LIVE Wednesdays 8pm-10pm EST. I’ll be happy to field questions about it there as well.

If enough of you want to get in the game, you’ll get the chance to shoot me in the face with a rocket launcher. Virtually, of course.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Want To Shoot Rich In The Face?

When it comes to email, there are many who prefer the convenience of web-based mail but wish there was a local application that looked and acted like a mail client. Zimbra Desktop is it. This software absolutely nails it in terms of friendliness, ease-of-use, convenience and everything in between.

First of all, it’s multi-platform. Windows, Mac or Linux. Any truly good application these days supports all three, and this does.

Second, it has support for multiple types of email:

Zimbra, Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Hotmail, AOL Mail, two types of IMAP and POP.

It always pleases me when I see an offering by a major player like Yahoo! that is willing to support a competitor’s product like Hotmail or Gmail because it shows confidence in their own offering.

It should be noted however that only some Hotmail accounts are supported due to compatibility issues. Most will be, but if yours doesn’t connect, the software will explain why.

Third, look at this interface:

Slim, clean and super-easy. Look at the tabs on top. Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, Documents and so on are all just a single click away. Folder support is easy too.

Oh, and speaking of which, did you ever want your Gmail account to have accessible "normal" folders like all other webmail does? It will when you use Zimbra. Simply add a folder via a connected Gmail account, and it will create nested folders that look and act just like normal ones – and yes they’re completely accessible via the regular Gmail interface as well.

Fourth, although this sounds a bit dopey I really dig it – a mail indicator icon in the taskbar in Windows when new mail arrives:

The yellow envelope is the new mail indicator. This seemingly insignificant feature is just so nice to have.

Fifth, yes it has multiple account support. In the screen shot above, look on the left sidebar. Your other accounts are listed at the bottom and can be accessed easily with a single click. If there is any new mail in accounts lists there, there is a small number in parentheses telling you how much new mail there is.

Sixth is the synchronization features. Using Yahoo Calendar and Contacts? It will sync seamlessly. Using Gmail’s version? It’ll sync that too.

It goes without saying that Yahoo! Mail users will appreciate Zimbra the most because it FINALLY brings a true native client to the desktop. This is Yahoo’s equivalent of Windows Live Mail and it does a fine job even though it’s beta software.

And yes, it’s beta. That means some things may go buggy from time to time. But in my use of it I’ve encountered no issues as of yet.

The way Zimbra works in Windows is by installing itself as a service. You will see a small red icon in your taskbar (when no new mail is present) like this:

This is not a bad thing whatsoever, because when the Zimbra client is minimized, it goes completely out of the way and shrinks to this little icon, which can be clicked to bring the client back up. In addition, it can be right-clicked to completely shut down the service.

Zimbra Desktop was definitely done right the first time. It is the only software I’ve seen that offers a true alternative to Windows Live Mail (especially if you don’t use Hotmail) and the feature set is just plain great.

Oh, one last note. This may be a frilly feature but still worth mentioning. It has 12 different themes you can use:

This is available via the Options tab.

Let’s say for example you want Zimbra to look like Gmail. You would choose "Zmail." This is what it looks like:

Looks pretty close to Gmail, doesn’t it?

Zimbra’s dev team really thought this product through.

As said at the top of this article, this is a product that accesses web-based mail but still retains the total look and feel of a local mail client – and has the very-super-awesome-cool sync features like Windows Live Mail does, so it isn’t an island unto itself whatsoever.

Two huge thumbs up for Zimbra Desktop. You’d be very hard pressed not to like this.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Zimbra Desktop Is Just Plain Awesome

CSVed is a free (see below) utility which does a lot more than a text editor or Excel (without some macro/formula magic that is) does, including:

• change separator
• save filtered items
• remove duplicates
• add prefix and suffix

CSVed is designed for working with delimited files only, so it should do just about anything you would need. This tool is postcardware, so if you use it and like it, let the author know.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Powerful Tool For Working With Delimited Text

Moving an application to the trash is simple and easy. Shouldn’t true uninstallation on the Mac be the same way?

With AppTrap, when you move an application to the trash, you’re automatically asked if you want to move the associated preference files as well. Now that’s uninstallation, the Mac way.

From the description, this seems like a pretty useful program as I imagine having to separately remove preference files would be rather annoying (if that type of thing bothers you). The program automatically detects any associated system files left over after you remove a program and lets you decide what to do. Simple enough.

AppTrap is free/open source and it may be a nice utility to have.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Fully Uninstall Mac Programs Easily

This post covers just about every type of security category you can imagine and lists several free (for the most part) programs you can choose from. There are also several suggestion made by other users as you scroll through the thread.

This is definitely a great way to get caught up on what is out there or find something new you might can use.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Huge List Of Free Security Programs

My thought is typically to go with the lesser freebie. For the most part, commercial packages do offer more, but I typically don’t really need it. For example, I swapped from Quicken to GNU Cash about 2 years ago and I haven’t looked back. Quicken has a fancy interface and a bunch of wizards, but I found I just preferred a simple register view which GNU Cash does very well.

Additionally, for tool/utility programs, freebies almost always do what I need. Notepad++, Keepass, CutePDF, Sysinternals, Winpatrol, etc. are pretty top-notch in my opinion so I can’t see any compelling reason to pay for something which does basically the same thing. I don’t use tech support (I prefer to Google it), so that isn’t even a consideration.

Now there are a couple of exceptions that I will always go with when it comes for business use:

• Windows over Linux
• MS Office over OpenOffice/fill in another free office suite

So what do you think? Do you lean more towards the commercial offering or the freebie?

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Do You Pay Fully Featured Programs Or Go With A Lesser Freebie?

Linker [...] creates hyperlinks to items and folders in Outlook, and to files and folders in Windows Explorer. It is a system tray applet places the hyperlink in the Windows clipboard. The hyperlink can then be pasted into any Microsoft Office document, web page, e-mail message, or any document that supports hyperlinks. While this is an important feature for the efficient and productive use of shared items in an Exchange public folder system,  there was no  convenient way to create these hyperlinks – until now.

While this utility certainly isn’t for everyone, for those of you with a use for it, this tool can really save you some time.

Post from: PCMech. Helping Normal People Get Their Geek On And Live The Digital Lifestyle.

Easily Add Hyperlinks In Outlook And Office Documents