Internet Explorer 9 is here!!

Or at least the beta is.
Should you install it? Well you can if you want but it will remove your previous version of Internet Explorer.
So if the beta fails you will have to roll back to your earlier version.
Why, when it is still a Beta product do Microsoft remove your old working version? This is appalling.
As for the interface - don't get me going. All the old standards that users are used to - GONE.
Menu bar - GONE
Title bar - GONE
I have looked at this for 5 minutes - that was enough.
I sent a feedback form - that wanted to update my computer with something which I didn't let it.
I am beginning to think that Microsoft are beginning to lose grip on reality.
We don't want more fancy stuff - we just want their stuff to work properly.

ClearOS production server

An alternative to Windows 2003 / 2008 domain server software.
For sometime now we have been searching to find an alternative to the Windows server products. Windows server products developed nicely from Windows NT through to Windows 2003 but in our opinion Windows 2008 was a poor product. Based on the Vista kernel it suffered from all the maladies affecting Vista and achieved none of the benefits.
We have supplied one client with Server 2008 and I hope not to have to repeat this experience.
We know that Linux based domain servers have been around but to our mind most of these have suffered from the command line based disjointed administrator interface.
At a personal level I am aware that whatever I do I cannot put into a client a system that my staff cannot manage in my absence or after the Big Red Bus has pressed my mortal being into the surface of the tarmac. Therefore I have been reluctant to put in place a server that become useless once I am no longer in charge of it.
As a result we have not installed any Linux based servers - but all that is likely to change now.
We have been investigating the ClearOS server software (and the e-box and sme server systems). We have built a number of test installations and have now built a production server.
The server is based on an AMD Athlon 5000+ dual core processor on a Foxconn A74ML-K motherboard and 2GB RAM. This is combined with a 500GB hard disk (not new and removed from an older machine) and an optical drive and very little else.
We have installed the server on the same network as our web server which is remote to our office network.
Our next job is to configure the server into a working server, and enable remote logon to both Windows and Linux clients. We will blog progress as it occurs.
For more information about ClearOS click this link.