I got shot of AOL a few months back.

Complete waste of time.

KD

MM - Amen. I'm just waiting for my 12 month period to expire after I upgraded to AOL Platinum last year. I have been recommended Pipex by my computer man but I am open to suggestions.

Pipex were fine until they got bigger and then they no longer pick up the phone. So, when I moved I went with Euro1net.com at 240 for 24 months for unlimited 1meg and no connection fee. If you've a problem they pick up the phone and sort it out. And they speak English rather than the normal BT Mumbai mumble.

Thanks Brian. AOL suffer from Punjab Prattle also. Euro1Net sounds useful.

I wouldn't recommend signing up to any 12 month contract. Things are changing so quickly in the broadband market that you really don't want to be tied down. Lines will be upgraded to up to 8Mb/s (depending on distance to exchange) by the end of March/April so make sure that you're with an ISP that will provide them at reasonable cost. ADSL2+ running at up to 24Mb/s is already available in London and will be spreading out in the coming year. So no binding contracts.

PlusNet are good, cheap and non-Punjabi and offer a monthly contract but there are plenty of others of course.

Check out Broadband suppliers on ADSLGuide.

Personally, I use Zen Internet as do several other IST persons, although we also have happy users of Eclipse and Bulldog. As I recall, Zen have a one month minimum contract, so you can ditch them quickly if you don't like them.

Because we're techies, we just want connectivity to the Internet without all the cuddly handholding that some suppliers insist on ramming down your throat to the point where you can't breath, if you follow me.

You no longer need the cuddly stuff, you just need ADSL enabled from a decent supplier on your BT line and a NetGear (or similar) router off the shelf for 50-60. I favour NetGear because their software interface is very straightforward to set up and because I was once stuck in a Silicon Valley traffic jam beside their CEO ;-) But all current routers are pretty easy to set up and there are loads of people on this thread that can help if you get stuck.

I installed the beta of that new IE yesterday. It's playing havoc with web based java applications this morning so is for the bin.

It also seems to be a rip off of Opera. MM put me onto Opera a month or two back and, although it's got a few problems accessing some sites, it's a hell of a lot better than IE, imo.

Hilary,

I also spotted Bully's note about IE7. But the bulletin board near the download is full of people with problems so I decided to let it unbeta itself without my resources.

I've been using Opera for ages and upgraded my version earlier this week.

On the other hand the beta of Opera for PDA is also being found to have lots of problems so I will leave that alone along with IE7.

The only reason I moved from Opera to IE was because at the time it could not handle some sites like PayPal. Maybe it can now. I haven't tried.

TP

TP,

I don't have a problem with PayPal and Opera, but I do have a problem with some other online banking sites with Opera. I think that my biggest gripe with Opera is that it requires a download of Sun Java which I think is a bit slow on loading compared to MS Java.

IE7 also has a problem with the same online banking sites that Opera has a problem with. IE6 didn't have those problems. Like you say, it needs to get out of beta first.

Beta software is just that, relatively untested but certainly unproven software. Personally I don't touch the stuff, unless MoneyAM make me of course :-)

Certainly if you're using a computer for work or trading the last thing you want on your computer is Beta software.

As for the various IE usurpers, there is really no point. Microsoft will win in the end, they always do, and you're not going to get compatibility problems using their software. The security risks are over rated. If another browser or email program ever became as popular as IE or Outlook Express, virus writers would begin to target it and it would start to have the same problems. As for me, viruses? What viruses? After over a decade of using PCs I'm still running without an anti-virus program or firewall (except the router admittedly).

Kayak,

I wasn't contemplating using IE7 beta for trading purposes ......... I was more concerned when it wouldn't play my Neopets games when I get bored.

:o)

Hilary, Have a try of Mozilla had no problems with online banking or pay pal. (http://www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/). Works on all sites for me so far.

I am using IE7 and have had no problems with it.

Kayak: You heathen!

MS will not win in the end. Their browser is just too crappy and vulnerable. I take your point about targeting, but the fact is that MS never treated security seriously for years and years -- it was not in their DNA. One morning, Mr Bill woke up and saw the light -- Halleluljah Brothers -- bolt on some security, it is now An Issue.

Sadly, it doesn't work like that. You can't bolt it on after, they will not learn, and others will always be more secure. And if you're using a non-PC platform like the Mac or UNIX/Linux?

I can't remember the last time I used IE.

10% of the world is now using Firefox. But Opera is pretty snazzy. (Glad you like it, Hil)

I use Eudora for email -- it's better than Outlook by a mile and more secure.

Heathen? true :-)

As for IE and OE, I doubt very much that your average Joe is going to bother to change from what came packaged with his computer. Particularly when security is bolted on: maybe not perfectly, but enough for 90% not to bother complicating things by replacing what comes pre-installed. The only things Firefox et al might achieve is to protect their 10% or whatever of the market, as well as the privilege of feeding their ideas back into the design of Microsoft software of course.

Perhaps sadly, but it is more likely that once Microsoft fix the main shortcomings, browsers and email programs will become standardised to the MS version. After all, where is Realplayer and where will competitive anti-virus and firewall programs be once MS sort themselves out.

K: I do agree that the "average Joe" won't change from what arrives on his machine -- but I do think that it's likely that enough people will, which will prevent complete domination by MS.

Over ten years ago, The Economist wrote a worthy article demonstrating clearly that Apple Computer would not survive into the 21st Century. I said then that they were wrong because they misunderstood the nature of the technology market. I was right, they were wrong.

Equally, all those who say that Microsoft must win (and I'm not accusing you of that) are misunderstanding the nature of the technology market. Microsoft may dominate -- but they can never own it -- they are just not technically competent enough, they're very big for reasons unconnected to technical competence.

Cheers

MM

i hate computers, I really hate them.

How many times have you heard this phrase.

Bought 2 new iiyama vision master pro 513's.

Lovely 22" monitors i thought as advertised. open up the box, put them on my table next to my 21" vision master 505 and i discover the screens are exactly the same size. i hate the way computer companies do this by advertising something better when it's not. (unless of course my 505 is 22" but i don't think that's likely)

next problem - i look at the screen at my preferred resolution of 1920x1440 and it looks more like an hourglass than a square. 15 minutes later having pushed huge amounts of buttons on the on-screen menu it now fits the screen properly.

Finally i look at the screen and i'm a bit disappointed. Although it's brighter and clearer than the 505 it's very harsh on the eye. I like the old one better! ouch.

Maybe i'm doing it an injustice I thought. I'll go and load the proper driver for the screen rather than the default plug and play one that comes with windows. At worst i'll get a better refresh rate so maybe it'll look better.

so go to the box to get the drivers and there aren't any - oh well now go to iiyama.co.uk and download the zipped drivers no problem.


Then this is where i lose the plot, throw the dummy etc etc. how the f do you unzip these drivers now without buying pkzip cos all it keeps telling me is that my evaluation copy has expired and it demands a licence number. This is stupid really really stupid. I just want some drivers that go with my monitor. Why should i have to pay to get them?

I'm sure one of you will have a simple solution to this? maybe a third party program that will unzip for free.

Off to delete my current out of license version of pkzip now and then see what happens

Edit : this did the job quite well : http://downloads.5star-network.com/Utilities/wrar351.exe

My seven year old has put a password on the internet connection and its preventing access. I've tried everything I can think of but I just can't bypass it.

Anyone know of a way of removing the password please?

I don't even know HOW to put on a password to prevent access to the internet = pretty useful to prevent teenage son spending excess amount of time on the pc.

TIA

Kat

I think he was just trying to prevent Dad from spending an excess amount of time on the PC :-)

The answer depends on where the password has been inserted. Is it a dial-up or ADSL or cable connection, do you have a router or USB modem, and is the password problem appearing as a login box or whole failed page?

Kayak

Its telewest broadband and his computer has a wireless connection.

It's coming up as a login box.

-Mum actually :)

Katrina