Weekend Bonus Edition

At the start of my recent vacation, I was in Flagstaff and wanted a good cup of coffee. I was passing a Barnes and Noble so I pulled in, got a cup, then went to get a book to browse. I grabbed a just-released book called “Windows 7 Secrets,” by Paul Therrott and Rafael Rivera. Paul is the chief editor of Winsupersite.com and does a weekly podcast with Leo LaPorte, so I am very familiar with him and was aware of the book.

It is a large book, over 1,000 pages, and weighs about 5 pounds. But as I sipped my coffee and browsed the book, I quickly knew I had to have it.  I was amazed how much I did not know about Microsoft’s latest operating system. I didn’t buy it then, but did shortly after my return to Tucson.  It is now my daily reading material out by the pool every morning.

The bottom line for me is there are many new things that are not in Windows XP, and, that are not obvious. I recommend if you move to Windows 7 via the forthcoming upgrade…or when you buy a new computer…you think about getting this, or another book to learn more about what this great new operating system can do.  There are a lot of new things here that you might overlook.

Paul’s book lists for $49.95, but is available at Amazon.com for $31.49 with free shipping.

Windows 7 nears the finish line

Here is a central depository of all Windows 7 stories and information, by ZDNet.

Amazon, Wal-Mart battling over book pricing

Wal-Mart Stores is waging an online book pricing war against Amazon.com, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday morning.

Is Quicken at the end of the road?

Conventional wisdom is that Intuit's acquisition of the personal finance Web service Mint will mean the end of the line for the company's standalone software app, Quicken. Upstart Mint, which is being acquired by Intuit for $170 million, has a personal finance product more in line with the times, with a younger demographic, a working business model, and a passionate CEO, Aaron Patzer, who's slated to take over the Quicken product line at Intuit once the acquisition closes. It doesn't look good for the old desktop app, Quicken.