|
|
|
If your job requires you to stay on top of industry, company or competitor news, hire an electronic agent to keep you informed. For customized electronic retrieval services, check out First (Individual Inc., 617-354-2230). The service uses sophisticated artifical intelligence techniques to skim through 25,000 to 30,000 articles each day. They'll send you the ones most important to your topics.
For low-cost snooping, try Rosebud ($69.95, Magee Enterprises, 404-446-6611). You can set up Rosebud to call your CompuServe account and collect news from the PR Newswire, Associated Press, Reuters, UPI, the Business Wire and other information providers. You can also get stock prices and alerts to specific events, like a stock price dropping by five points. You can even have your customized news sent to your fax machine, e-mail address or even your pager (with a $25 pager module).
Windows 95 offers a suspend mode feature for portable computers to save battery power or keep your applications open and in place. This is fine for standalone uses, but it can cause problems if you're connected to your company's network with a PCMCIA network adapter. The adapters treat suspend mode as a sign that you've left the network and drop the connection. Applications like e-mail or shared schedules, which maintain open network files will terminate. This happens even if you plug your portable into A/C electricity. Be safe, not sorry, and shut down any application that requests network services before using suspend mode.
Sooner or later, most early adopters of Windows 95 will have to exchange files with someone who still uses Windows 3.1. Make sure you test the backward compatibility of each application before you assume your colleagues can read your files.
Not all applications will save to an earlier file format without a compromise. For instance, Excel 7 for Windows 95 will save only the active sheet when you try to save your file to an Excel 4.0 worksheet. And don't forget that versions of Windows prior to Windows 95 don't support the new long filename convention.
If your application software fails to support a particular format, try saving the file in a neutral format. For instance, users of PowerPoint 7 for Windows 95 can save each slide of a presentation as a Windows metafile (.WMF format). Excel can save files in tab-delimited or comma-separated formats.
You can increase the performance of your desktop video conferencing over plain old telephone service (POTS) by connecting directly to a telephone line that doesn't go through your office PBX system. Many office PBX systems, even newer digital switches, cause a slight amount of interference. This translates to slower modem performance. In my office, we achieved a full 28,800bps when we connected directly to an outside line using Creative Lab's ShareVision PC-3000. This compares to 16,800bps through a digital switch--that's more than a 42 percent drop in throughput.
Most desktop video conferencing software will let you monitor line performance, so you may want to experiment with different combinations. You may also notice that line speed varies depending on who initiates the call. Other factors, such as weather and existing traffic over the wires, can also affect performance.
Microsoft provides a good first step for installing Windows 95 in corporate sites. But it ignores what real users want to do with their computers.
The guide says large corporate sites will set up four teams: an executive team, a planning team, an installation team and a support team. All of these participants are important, but the plan forgets to survey actual corporate Windows users to determine their needs. Instead, the deployment guide recommends you leave decision-making to a corporation's executive committee.
Don't depend on executives to specify minute configuration issues. They won't have the time or knowledge to make fair decisions. Form a steering team to nominate one or two people from each area of the company. Make sure you include computer novices as well as gurus to add balance. Then, with your steering team, plan and implement your company's migration.
Windows 95's multiple user profile feature allows you to set up your PC for different users in your home. You can also set up different desktops for yourself, depending on whether you're using your PC for work at home or for entertainment, like logging onto the Internet or your favorite online service.
For instance, you can set up your PC with your business applications, such as your company's e-mail, your spreadsheets and your ongoing department status report on the desktop. Then, you could set up another user profile with a desktop that only shows games or gives you access to your favorite haunts around the Internet.
If you're a long walk from the copy machine, network printer or department fax machine, consider buying an all-in-one copier-printer-fax. By setting up a convenience station at your desk, or at least close by, you'll save time and steps. These combo units (also known as multifunction product) are also great for the home office or small office where desk space is at a premium.
Combo units don't cost much more than a printer. You can scan, fax, print and copy with one machine--without wasting time running down the hall. And they come with all the necessary Windows software. During installation a combo unit will set itself up as a printer and a fax device. As a fax machine, it will answer the phone while you work on other tasks. (If you're not sure you need one of these gizmos, take a few days to clock the time you spend racing back and forth from your desk to various machines.)
|
|
|