VirtualBox, Add Another OS the Easy Way

I had never heard of the Oracle VirtualBox until the other day after reading an article on how to use it on Windows Secrets to test drive Windows 8. After reading this article I wondered if there was a Linux version? I thought it would be great to have Windows XP for those programs that only run on Windows and they do make a version for Linux and for MAC OSX.

So what exactly can you do with it? You can run a completely different operating system in a Window on the operating system that you are currently using. I used it to run Windows XP in a Window on My Ubuntu Laptop. But you could have just as easily run the test drive for Windows 8 on you Vista system, or Ubuntu Linux on your WIndows 7 computer without making new partitions or messing with the instillation that you already have.

It works very well, and you can easily allocate processors in your multi processor computer, how much RAM it will use, and how much graphics memory it will take. Of cource the more RAM and processors you have the smoother everything will run. I'm running it on a dual processor machine with 4 Gig of RAM and it does a good job with allocating 1.5  Gigs to Windows XP.

You can download your version here Oracle VirtualBox.

I Have a New Website

I just turned loose my new Website onto the world. If you get a chance stop by and check it out Dan LaFollette Technology Consulting. I will be adding more and more helpful links and other information as I have time to add them. My goal is to give people as much information as I can to solve their common technology problems. If they still need help they can Ask Dan! 

What bothers me about Windows 8

I'm hearing all of these rumors about Windows 8 being like the Windows phone, built to work with panes and and be more like a tablet. When I use my iPod touch I don't worry about getting maleware at all because I get software from Apple's on source. My iPod works as I expect it to work. My Android phone, same thing. My Laptop running Ubuntu, same thing, I don't deal with malware on them. But any of my Windows based computers constantly get malware even with Virus software running all the time. I have to periodically run Superantispyware to ensure that they will run properly.

So here comes Windows 8 trying to act like all of the other things devices that I have that aren't plagued with malware issues. Malware and panes seems like a nightmare waiting to happen. I simply don't understand why Microsoft can't deal with these problems. Anyway that's my 2 cents worth.

Opera Web Browser email Client

I've always had a soft spot for the Opera browser ever since it came out at the end of 1996, and the email client is one of the many reason the Opera web browser should be one of the free applications in your tool box. I'm using three browsers now, and I use them for different functions, oh and Internet explorer isn't one of them. I've used Opera on and off over the years because it always seems to have something that I wanted to use. Usually when I needed to down load a file with a BitTorrent. But I think the email client alone is a huge reason to use it

First off Opera has a fantastic email client. I decided to look at it today after getting another request from my spouse to fix her Mozilla Thunderbird email client. I had to reinstall it recently for her, and it seemed to be working fine on her Vista running desktop, but it's on the Fritz again, and frankly I'm getting tired of fixing it. I'm using Thunderbird for Linux on my laptop with no problems at all but I find Thunderbird a bit cumbersome for the average user. If I find it cumbersome then I know that Joe Blow on the street is going to find it difficult to set up. You can use Opera with just about any of the online email services that are out there but I use Yahoo mail and Gmail exclusively myself. Gmail is a snap to set up on any email client, by simply telling Opera what your email address and passwords are and that you want to use imap, bang, you're in business. With Yahoo there are a few more steps. Here are the setting that you need to enter to use imap with Opera email client. These also work for Thunderbird by the way.

Outgoing mail needs to be set to:

• smtp.mail.yahoo.com
• port 465 (SSL/TLS)

Incoming imap server needs to be set to:

• imap.mail.yahoo.com
• port 993 (SSL/TLS)

In case you have a problem with the above settings then here are some alternative settings for accessing imap:

• smtp.mobile.mail.yahoo.com port 465
• imap.n.mail.yahoo.com port 143

or

• android.smtp.mail.yahoo.com port 465 (SSL/TLS)
• android.imap.mail.yahoo.com port 993 (SSL/TLS)

Other important settings for Yahoo mail that need to be set.

• Click on the wrench next to your email address
• Then click on properties.
• Next click on IMAP to tell it to map the Sent, Trash, and Bulk mail folders. There are drop downs to select.
• Click on “OK” Then you should be all set.

The reason you have to go through so many extra steps is because Yahoo wants to charge you to use their email on your email client, and their premium email service has access to their POP account that allows it to talk to Outlook, Thunderbird, and Opera mail. They don't charge you to use Yahoo mail on your Android, or iPhone. We just used their settings for mobile devices that work just fine on an email client.

Now I had a hard time finding how to add another account, you can add as many as you want and it's not hard to set up them up once you get to the right place, but it's tricky finding the spot to add a new email account.

• First you have to move your mouse on the email address you already have set up, then click on the wrench next to it.
• Click on IMAP folders and when the “Subscribe IMAP folders” box pops up then click on “Account.”
• You can then click on new account to set one up.

I actually like the look and feel of the email client that is built into Opera over Thunderbird. It seems more polished and friendly. And it's sort of nice having email to my left in my browser as I'm doing other things on the web. It's one less thing I have to switch between.

One other unique feature of Opera is the fact that it has a BitTorrent built right in. I don't use this much but every once and a while I need to download a large file and my only option is a bit torrent. Having BitTorrent software built in makes it more of a one step process to get the files that you are after. Just download the small torrent file and Opera starts the process of getting the actual file you want.

Opera is the fastest browser out there, so if you don't like waiting for pages to load then this is the browser for you. Opera also hosts blogs somewhat like Google does. Opera makes a great browser for your cell phone that use use on my Android exclusively.

It would be nice to be able to read Kindle book on Opera, but that's why I have Google Chrome. With so many different applications available for web browsers they themselves have turned into their own operating systems. For the most part what operating system you use doesn't matter too terribly much anymore unless you have an application that you just have to run on Windows for instance. Of course that's another story.