Keeping an eye on Windows and other things tech!

Technology on the Road

Today we head to Europe for a couple of weddings, one in the UK for a niece and another in Italy for my wife’s youngest son.  We are travelling with the net book and this will be the second time we have travelled with it (we took it to New York last moth).  However, one big difference is that this time my wife will have her own account setup on the net book with her email and Windows Live Writer set up.

The major difference for her will be that it is Windows 7.  She still has Windows Vista on her PC but has never ventured near Windows 7 despite it being on the other computers in the house.  This will be a great test bed for determining if we will upgrade her PC when we return.  It will also be a great way to see how someone who is not a tech person (be her own admittance) deals with the new Windows 7 interface.

My only complaint is that I will not be able to use Windows XP Mode which means I will not be able to access my Outlook Web Access for my work email during the trip.  Windows XP Mode requires hardware based virtualization and the net book does not have that capability at the moment.  As I described in my recent post about Windows XP Mode to the Rescue – this is the only means I have to access my older USB based CAC card reader which is required for me to access my work email. I guess I will just upgrade the hardware eventually to get compatible down the road.

So more from the road as we get the trip going.  Stay safe!

Related Posts:

• Travelling and Technology
• Windows 7 XP Mode to the Rescue
• Windows 7 Beta 1 Road Warrior Wireless
• Windows 7 Road Warrior Wrap Up
• SnapFoo Beta – Mobile Photo Blogging

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Windows 7 Beta 1 Road Warrior Wireless

Well I am on the road as I have mentioned on Twitter heading towards Seattle, WA for four days of meetings.  Along for the ride is my two and a half year old Gateway MX6455 laptop.  It has had Windows 7 Beta installed on it since the public release about ten days ago however it has been at the low end of my usage focus because I was on my desktop install most of the time.

With this trip it will get full time use from me and I can see how it really performs on the move.

So far it has proven to be very easy to connect to wireless networks. Here is what that process looks like through the new network interface in Windows 7:

The first thing you will see is a bright asterisk symbol on your wireless strength bar in the notification tray that lets you know there are new networks.  I did not get a pop up notifying me of the networks as it worked in Windows Vista.

When you click on the wireless icon you will get this window showing the available networks and there relative strength based on your location.

Another click on the connection itself shows you more details about the wireless hot spot and gives you two choices – click the checkbox to connect every time you encounter this network (handy if you travel or frequent hot spots) and to connect.

Once you click that Connect button the window will show your status as connected and you are ready to go.

After you have used your connection and your ready to move along just click again on the wireless icon in the notification tray and you will see the above window with an option to disconnect.  Once you click that it will go back to its original state showing the available connections.

I just seem to remember there being many more steps in Windows Vista to get a wireless connection going – so this is extremely quick and easy to do.

More as the week continues in the series of operating on the move with Windows 7.

Related Posts:

• Windows 7 Road Warrior Wrap Up
• New IE Icon Behavior on Taskbar in Windows 7 Build 7068 And Beyond?
• Windows 7 Libraries Feature Review
• Belkin Wireless N 4 Port Router Review
• Windows 7 Google Alerts for 02 April 2009

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