More Bing searching. Buying a computer.
July 2, 2009
More Bing searching
Searching for information on the web can often be more of a word game than anything else. As well, there are different types of searches. For example, if you want to find out airline prices for a future flight from, say Melbourne to Sydney, then you know you want traffic information and all you need do is start Bing Travel (www.bing.com/travel/) and enter MEL to SYD to compare prices offered by the airlines.
On the other hand you might be looking for new plants for the garden. You want information about suitability of the plants for your area, their price and the locations of nurseries close by.
Even though you might have a specific range of plants, it's best to begin your search in the most general way possible so just enter plants in Bing's search field and see what results show. There are a large number of results but one result of your search is a link to a collection of images which might be useful to identify the types of plants you're thinking of purchasing.
As well Bing has done its best to offer alternatives and more specific information under Related Searches in the left-hand column - one option is native plants. Click this and the next page of results in the left column is even more specific with options such as native plants in Australia and native plants in Victoria.
One of Bing's aims is to cut down the number of clicks we have to use to find the information we want. For example, you want to try a different recipe for cooking chicken. So start typing recipes into Bing's search box and you'll see Bing offers some suggestions in a dropdown box before you have to do your first click. Once you've clicked on the search button, once again you'll find more helpful links on the left-hand side of the new page that comes up.
Sometimes changing the order of the words we enter into Bing's search box helps find information more quickly. Let's say you want some East Timor recipes for a special occasion. Enter east timor recipes (note, you don't need to enter capital letters) and compare the results from entering recipes east timor.
As well remember to start your search with a general type of query and then make use of the suggestions in the left-hand column of the next page of results that come up after you've clicked Bing's search button.
Buyer beware
Regardless of Microsoft's marketing policies, Windows Vista is sold in different versions, each with or without features, for specific sections of the market. So, for example, Windows Vista Business is aimed at business users on a company network where features such as Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player, Movie Maker and DVD Maker are not required. Vista Home is aimed at basic desktop and laptop computers which don't have the power to run multimedia applications very well so they don't include Media Player, for example.
Most of us at home (and sometimes at work) will need to have Windows Vista Home Premium so we can work with photos and movies without having to pay for any extra specialisted software.
If you're looking at the purchase of a new desktop PC or laptop, the first task is to check that you'll be getting Vista Home Premium. If not, go somewhere else.
One reason that there are so many laptops being offered at discount prices is that they're not installed with Windows Vista Home Premium. If you still want to purchase one of these products then only do so if you're prepared to pay the extra money to purchase a legitimate copy of Microsoft Windows Home Premium and install it over the top of whatever is on the machine you plan to purchase.
For heaven's sake don't purchase a computer that has Windows XP installed. The life cycle of free support for Windows XP concluded on April 14 2009. In other words Windows XP is ten years old and Microsoft won't be supplying any more free updates to fix problems. As well, applications won't be developed for XP since programmers can't get free support from Microsoft if they run into problems.
If you're looking at purchasing a new computer or laptop, take advantage of the expertise at Rushworth Community House and come along to ask any questions you have.