A few things have changed since my previous Desktop Feng Shui.

My older Viewsonic LCD no longer works, so I ended up getting an HP w2207h LCD. In fact, BOTH of my Viewsonic LCDs no longer work, so my wife had to revert back to using her smaller, older Samsung SyncMaster 730B LCD. (She didn't want to get a newer LCD.)

I really like the HP w2207h, esp because my wife was able to find it for about $160. It only comes with VGA and HDMI inputs (no DVI), so some people might think that's a big drawback, but it doesn't matter to me. My cousin is about to visit from Georgia, and we do a lot of video gaming, so I will use my LCD to hook the 360 up via HDMI, so we have the option of playing on two systems simultaneously (sometimes we will play our own games at the same time, other times we'll play multiplayer games together). Anyway, for $160, it's practically a steal. Furthermore the HP can rotate into portrait mode, which I like to use a lot.

Hit the jump to see the latest Desktop Feng Shui.

Being quite the Mac OS-X newb, I had a little trouble knowing how to share files from my PC to my Mac. Apparently there are still quite a lot of confused people out there in various threads and forums, so I thought I might help clear up with providing my experience on how I got it working. From what others have said, this used to be much easier in OS-X Tiger, and it was a change made in Leopard that is causing all the fuss. I used to have a Macbook Pro and I didn't seem to have this problem, even while using Leopard, but it is definitely an issue on the recently released new Mac Mini.

I will explain how to connect to a windows workgroup, because that's how my network is set up. For other network configurations, this obviously may not work. Furthermore, this only explains how to get your Mac to see Windows shares. My Windows PC can see my Mac Mini, but it cannot access any shares. I'm guessing I need to authenticate somehow, but I'm not sure yet. I'll update if I find out how to get it working the other direction (from Windows to Mac).

Hit the jump to see the instructions on how to enable Windows sharing in Mac OS-X Leopard

Blogger Long Zheng has found and notified Microsoft about a flaw in the design of the UAC in Windows 7. His post states that...

"By default, Windows 7's UAC setting is set to "Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer" and "Don't notify me when I make changes to Windows settings". The Achilles' heel of this system is that changing UAC is also considered a "change to Windows settings", coupled with the new default UAC security level, would not prompt you if changed. Even to disable UAC entirely."

Microsoft has responded, and the response is a little shocking...

Hit the jump to see a recap on Microsoft's response, and further updates.

Download Squad is saying that some people have been experiencing crashes when installing apps or using Windows Update in Windows 7 beta, and that there is a workaround from Microsoft. Instructions are on Download Squad's post.

I've been running Windows 7 beta on two separate comps since the day after release and I still haven't come across this yet. Knock on wood.

All apps are set up on my Windows 7 laptop and everything's running smoothly, so that means it's time to spruce up the look and feel. I'm quite pleased with the freely available Tokyo Tower Windows 7 Theme. It has a nice gradient sunset over the horizon filled with purples through blues. I'm pretty sure the picture was taken from the top of Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.

Hit the jump to see the desktop screenshot.

Everyone has a slew of apps they can't live without. I've compiled a list of apps I snag after a fresh Windows 7 install...

Hit the jump to see the list of apps and start downloading like mad. o_0

The UAC prompt takes a long time to come up on my laptop on both Windows 7 and on Vista. On my Desktop on Windows 7, it comes up pretty fast.

The issue, according to Chris Jackson at Microsoft, is that when the UAC dims the screen, it relies on the video card, and if the video card is slow to handle the dimming, then obviously you can't just get a new video card. The simple solution (in Windows 7) is to move the UAC setting down one level, such that it doesn't dim the screen. Unfortunately, I don't believe you have this kind of control in Vista.

Of course, not having the UAC dim the screen opens you up to spoofing attacks. But like anything else, hopefully your Anti-virus or Anti-spyware will catch the attack before it happens. Without the dimming, the prompt comes up instantly for me. Anti-virus/spyware isn't perfect, but there is definitely a trade-off with waiting for the prompt to come up. With dimming, it was taking a good 4 or 5 seconds for the prompt to appear, and another 4 or 5 for it to restore the screen. That's just far too long. It's a shame that the UAC prompt by default, relies so heavily on the video card (even in Vista). Fortunately, I've never come across spoofing of the UAC yet. Knock on wood. I don't want to disable the UAC prompt completely, because its saved my butt a few times, mostly from malicious ads that are on well-known, "safe" sites.

I have reported the issue to Microsoft as Windows 7 Feedback.

Tim Sneath on msdn.com has compiled a list of 30 Windows 7 secrets. Excellent for anyone who enjoys productivity.

The new keyboard shortcuts (and mouse gesture equivalents) for the new window management features allow you to dock windows to the sides, maximize/restore the window vertically (without changing window width), move a window to another monitor, hide all non-active windows, peek at the desktop (allowing you to see gadgets or icons without moving windows), set focus to the taskbar, or launch apps from the taskbar, all just with simple key combinations involving the Windows key.

Another useful tip is to Shift+Right-Click a folder to show the "Open Command Prompt Here" option in the context menu, which sets current working directory to that folder within the command shell.

Hit the jump to see more Windows 7 tips