Microsoft Security Essentials v2

Without much fanfare, Microsoft has released version 2 of its Security Essentials antivirus and antispyware program.  This was not an automatic update.  I read about it in the Urban Commandos forum on AR15.com and downloaded the installer manually.

I’ve been running MSE on a number of machines now for over a year and it’s been both trouble free and better performing than my previous choice in free AV software, AVG.

If I notice anything weird I’ll make a note of it.

Strange VMware vSphere 4.1 Issue

I ran into a weird issue over the past couple of days while trying to deploy a couple of CentOS 5.5 virtual machines onto my vSphere 4.1 server.

I created a VM to serve as my template for future VMs, then exported it as an OVF template to my laptop.  (I do not yet have a vCenter management server, so I'm stuck running the vSphere Client inside an XP VM running in VirtualBox on my MacBook Pro).  Probably due to our network, the export took a couple of hours.

I then deployed two VMs from the OVF file.  Import went much more quickly than the export, thankfully.  When I ran the "system-config-network" tool to configure the IP address, subnet mask, gateway, hostname, and DNS settings, I noticed there was a duplicate of eth0.  The dupe wasn't present in my original VM.  If the dupe was not removed, running /sbin/ifconfig displayed that eth0 had all the correct info, but the machine could not reach the network.

Through trial and error, I discovered a workaround.  Upon running system-config-network, if a duplicate eth0 is present, select it.  Then blank out all values, save and quit.  Next, reboot the VM and once again run system-config-network, and configure eth0.  After doing all this networking worked properly and I was able to SSH into the VM from my laptop.

Once we get a vCenter Server I shouldn't have jump through these hoops.  vCenter includes the ability to clone a VM without doing an export and import, so setting up new VMs should be much simpler and faster.

Wet Day at the Range

Today the weather was rainy and in the 50s but I didn’t let that stop me from getting out to the range.  The firing lines at my club are covered and surrounded by walls on three sides, so they are great for shooting in inclement weather.

I took the Century Arms C93 HK-93 clone along with my Century VZ-2008, a VZ-58 clone.

I put 240 rounds through the C93, 80 being Prvi Partizan M-193 5.56mm Ball with the remainder being Wolf .223 55 grain JHPs.  The best thing I can say about the Wolf is that it was cheap.  Compared with Prvi Partizan, Winchester, or Federal ammunition it’s rather dirty, downloaded, and inaccurate.  Plus, it smells bad when you shoot it.  However, my Colt AR-15s, Ruger Mini-14, 5.56mm AKs, and the C93 all seem to function fine with it.

After my first outing last weekend with the C93 I’d cleaned the bore and the inside of the receiver, but not field stripped the bolt carrier group.  I just saturated it in RemOil, wiped off most of the goop, relubed with automatic transmission fluid*, and reassembled the gun.  So, when I took it down for a full cleaning today, after having put 400 +/- rounds through the gun, it was filthy.  It may have been dirty but it ran just fine and showed no signs of sluggishness.  I suspect it could have gone many hundred more rounds without a cleaning as long as it was lubed.

So far, the C93 has 400 to 420 rounds through it with no malfunctions.  I measured the bolt gap before my first range trip at 0.010”.  After a good cleaning tonight, I measured it again and it hasn’t shrunk.

My first Century C93 was a lemon but this one is a keeper.  Unfortunately for my wallet, I’m liking the taste of HK Kool Aid and have been eyeballing the PTR91, Inc. “GI” model, which is a G3 clone.  The first time I ever shot an HK was an HK-91 in .308 over 20 years ago, and I was wowed by the mild recoil.  Several years ago I owned a Century C91 G3 clone but wound up trading it off, even though it seemed to run fine with the 100 or so rounds I fired through it.  Probably should’ve kept that one.

Anyway, a couple of months ago I installed a muzzle brake on my VZ-2008.  The brake was from CNC Warrior and is a replica of the Czech military issue brake.  It’s very effective at reducing muzzle flip and recoil, at the expense of significantly increased muzzle blast (which is typical of muzzle brakes).  The blast is even more noticeable when you shoot the rifle from under overhead cover.  Good ear protection is mandatory.

Because the brake reduces muzzle flip, which starts while the bullet is still in the barrel, I found that the point of impact was lowered by about a foot at 100 yards after I installed it.  So, today my goal was to get a 25 yard zero, then fine tune it at 100 yards.  I wound up only shooting on the 25 yard range.  With the rain I didn’t feel like loading and unloading my truck to move over to the 100 yard line.

I shot 80 rounds of Brown Bear 7.62x39 123 grain FMJ through the VZ-2008 today.  The rifle required a break-in period of about 200 rounds, along with some manual polishing of contact points inside the action after my first range trip with the rifle.  The phosphate finish was so thick inside the action that it caused failures to extract and eject due to short stroking.  This may be uncommon, as I’ve read other VZ-2008 reviews online and I’m the only person who seems to have reported it.

Including today, my past two or three trips to the range with the VZ-2008 have been malfunction-free.  The VZ-2008 and I got off on the wrong foot but we’ve made up.   I now consider it a tested, reliable rifle after about 400 trouble free rounds.

There are two things I’m not thrilled with on the VZ-2008, however.  First is the folding stock.  It’s an original Czech stock and while it’s very sturdy and allows for storage in compact areas, it isn’t real comfortable.  I’m toying with the idea of installing a fixed stock.  Another option would be to install an Ace folder like I have on my Arsenal SLR-101SG.  The Ace stocks are as comfortable as a fixed unit but still allow storage in small areas.

Second is the design that Century chose for the selector.  It rotates backwards from what would be ergonomic.  I.e., rotate it down to put the rifle on safe, rotate it up to fire.  AIUI, Czech-made semiauto VZ-58s like those from Czechpoint USA have selectors which work the opposite way.  I may be able to fit a Czechpoint selector to my rifle (a member of Arfcom reported doing so with his VZ-2008), which would be a big improvement.

A VZ-58 clone a good choice for someone who wants a semiauto rifle generally similar to an AK but wants something a little different.  It’s also a good choice for folks stuck in jurisdictions which prohibit AKs.  I understand that VZ-58s are popular up in Canada (with the magazines blocked to 5 or 10 rounds).  Also, Connecticut bans Kalashnikovs in 7.62x39 (but not 5.45 or 5.56), but does not ban VZ-58s or clones.

Incidentally, I’ve found that Bulgarian surplus 4 cell pouches for 30 round AK magazines work perfectly for VZ-58 mags.  They also work for HK-93/HK-33/C93 40 round mags, but you have to cut a new hole in the tab which secures the top flap.

 

* I’ve been using ATF as a gun oil for about 16 years.  It’s cheap, a quart last forever, and works really well.  ATF is a decent cleaner for carbon fouling, too.  Just don’t get it on your clothes because it stains.

Obamessiah Has Left the Building

In an administration chock full of "WTF?" moments, this takes the cake:

Here we have a sitting president in the midst of dealing with a tremendously important piece of legislation, the passage of which will have a significant impact on an economy circling the drain, and he can't even finish a press conference because he's kept FLOTUS waiting on a Christmas party.  And he hands things over to a previous president?

Holy. Fucking. Shit.  This is by far the least presidential thing I have ever seen.

In his prior jobs as a state and US senator, Obama had the bad habit of voting "present."  Now he's not even doing that.  Hell, Stevie Wonder can see that this ship doesn't have a captain now.

And don't think for  a moment that our foes around the world haven't noticed.

Grandma Got Molested At The Airport

Good Day at the Range

Today I took my Century C93 (HK-93 clone) and my SAR-1 AK to the range for function testing and zeroing.

The C93 is a replacement for one I bought about a month ago which would not cycle when I shot it. I got the replacement rifle this past Wednesday. Today I ran around 160 - 180 rounds of Prvi Partizan M-193 Ball through it with no malfunctions, and zeroing it at 25 yards required only minor sight adjustments (elevation only, windage was spot on). This was quite a refreshing difference from the rifle I first bought. I'm very happy with this one.

After I received the rifle on Wednesday I measured the bolt gap with a feeler gauge.  It came in at 0.010”, which is within spec but on the low side.  After shooting it today I measured it again and so far it’s unchanged.  I already have a set of +4 rollers on order from Robert RTG, along with an HK sling and a couple of other small spare parts.

While I was annoyed at Century for them having shipped a non-functional rifle, they did make it right, and fairly painlessly.  Someday down the road I wouldn’t mind getting a Vector Arms V93, which is an HK-93 clone with a reputation for quality.  However, for now the C93 looks like it’ll be a good shooter, and at about half the cost of the Vector.

I've had the SAR-1 for a few years but recently installed an Ultimak with a Bushnell TRS-25 red dot sight on it. Since the Ultimak replaces the gas tube I wanted to verify that it still functioned OK, and make any necessary adjustments to the iron sight zero. As expected, the rifle functioned flawlessly through 90 rounds of Wolf Military Classic fed from 3 Finnish surplus Valmet mags. It turned out to still shoot to POA at 25 yards with irons. I was doubly pleased to find that I didn't need to make any adjustments on the Bushnell, either.

I'll verify zero at 100 yards with both rifles but they should be GTG.

An extra bonus was that with the temps in the mid-30s, I had the 25 yard range to myself.

Hanukkah 2010

I took today off so as to not lose an unused vacation day by the end of the year.  I just finished peeling and cutting up a bag of potatoes that my wife will turn into latkes tonight, since it’ll be the first night of Hanukkah.

In brief, Hanukkah commemorates the victory of the Jewish rebellion lead by Judah Maccabee over the Seleucids who had officially repressed the Jewish faith and desecrated the Second Temple in Jerusalem. 

Back in 2004 I put up a Hanukkah post bemoaning the choice of many of my co-religionists to support gun control.  The Shoah (Holocaust) was a mere 65 years ago, within living memory of many, and still, many, perhaps most Jewish Americans still fear and loathe guns and would see civilian controlled or banned.  For a people who values learning so much, we can be damn stubborn.

Thankfully, the past couple of years have seen two major victories for Americans who value their right to keep and bear arms, as a safeguard against criminals and rogue governments.

In the 2008 case District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment does indeed protect an individual right to keep and bear arms, independent of membership in the militia.  In 2010, SCOTUS extended the RKBA by applying it to the states with its ruling in McDonald v. Chicago.  As with earlier decisions which extended the protections in the Bill of Rights to the states, the full extent of the protection the RKBA will be afforded will only be seen after more protracted litigation.  But Heller and McDonald were major steps in preserving our liberty.

As Jews, we should be especially thankful for the right to keep and bear arms.  Since the Romans sacked Jerusalem and forced the Diaspora, Jews’ ability to defend themselves against violence has been curtailed as a matter of official policy.  In contrast, Jews in most of the United States can take up arms to defend themselves and their faith.

While the likelihood of official repression of Jews in the United States is remote, we cannot be complacent and adopt the “it can’t happen here” mentality.  Not in the age of resurgent Islamic fundamentalism, lax border controls, and jet air travel.

Since 1972, over 300 Americans have been killed by Muslim terrorists, not including the over 2700 who died on 9/11.  Many of them were targeted because they were Jews.

Unfortunately, the leaders of both major parties have been skittish of calling a spade a spade, with President Bush’s description of Islam as a “Religion of Peace” being the most notorious example.

Perhaps even worse is the current administration’s pro-Islam stance.  Beginning with Obama’s duplicitous 2009 speech to the Muslim world in Cairo and continuing with a policy toward Israel which can be described at best as ambivalent, but more accurately as pro-Palestinian, Jews should be wary of Washington’s stance towards them.  We should not be fooled by his close association with kapos like Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, or the worst of all, George Soros.

Overseas, we’ve seen a resurgence in anti-semitism in Europe, while Arab children continue to be fed a diet of anti-semitic propaganda in the form of entertainment.  See this for example.  And need I mention the Iranian quest for nuclear arms, promoted by Holocaust-denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, against which the West seems ready to do nothing?

Instead of taking serious steps, the current administration engages in security theater, the most obvious example lately being the TSA’s “porno scanners” at airports.

Worldwide, the situation for Jews is probably more perilous now than any time since 1945.

So what should we as Jewish Americans do?

First, stop supporting politicians who support gun control.  Not only is gun control counter-productive in reducing violent crime, supporting it foments anti-semitism when you have people with names like Bloomberg and Schumer backing it.  Being armed may not save you from a nut who’s turned a 747 into a human-guided cruise missile, but a pistol can give you a fighting chance against terrorists in a Mumbai-style attack.

Second, stop supporting politicians who refuse to call Islamic extremism and terrorism by their proper names.  Stop supporting politicians who think American vets returning from Iraq are more of a terrorist threat than Muslim radicals.

Third, stop fearing the “religious right,” in which the mainstream media has included pretty much anybody who regularly attends church.  Guess what?  Observant Christians are some of the best allies that Jews have today in the US.  While we may disagree on theology, many of them accept Jews as G-d’s Chosen People and are staunch supporters of the State of Israel.  Indeed, many Christians are more supportive of Israel than a lot of JINOs (Jews In Name Only).

Fourth, take the coverage by the mainstream media of the Tea Party movement with several helpings of salt.  You may hear some Tea Partiers talk about social issues, but the bedrock of the movement is about getting the government out of your life.  Historically, governments have been the Jewish People’s worst enemies, whether the government in question was lead by a Pharoah, Seleucid king, Roman Caesar, a Caliph, a Pope, a Tsar, a Furhrer, or Politburo.

Finally, exercise your right to keep and bear arms.  In Biblical times, the Jews were an ass-kicking people.  More recently, Israel has repeatedly stunned the world with its feats of arms.  In contrast, most Jewish Americans have adopted a pro-government victim mentality.  It is past time that this passive attitude be discarded.  “Turn the other cheek” is not a concept consistent with Jewish theology.  In the Talmud, we are instructed that, "if someone comes to kill you, get up early in the morning to kill him first." (Berakhot 58a; Yoma 85b; Sanhedrin 72a).  Judaism does not require you to submit to an assailant.  Indeed, precisely the opposite is true.

Happy Hanukkah and may you dreidel always land on gimel.

QOTD

"If all Americans want is security, they can go to prison.  They'll have enough to eat, a bed and a roof over their heads. But if an American wants to preserve his dignity and his equality as a human being, he must not bow his neck to any dictatorial government."

- Dwight D. Eisenhower , Dec.9, 1949

What to do ...

... upon bringing home a new (or new to you) gun.

Several Updates at The Shooters' Bar

This morning I made several updates to The Shooters' Bar, my list of pro gun rights attorneys.  If you need an attorney practicing in any area of the law take a look, it's not just a list of "firearms lawyers."

Saturday Night Range Report

Dad and I went to the range tonight.  I brought my 3" Ruger SP-101 (model KSP-331X) and my Browning Hi Power Practical.  Dad brought along new Rock Island Armory M1911 made by Armscor in the Phillipines.

I put about 60 rounds through the Ruger.  It shoots nicely.  Easier to pack than a K-Frame but a whole lot more pleasant to shoot than a J-Frame, especially with .38 +Ps.  (The indoor range at Dad's club prohibits magnums, and I can't see myself shooting many .357s in a 27 oz. gun anyway.)

The .38s I shot in the Ruger consisted of 50 rounds of Winchester 148 grain wadcutters, 5 Winchester 158 grain LSWCHP +Ps, and 5 Double Tap 158 grain hard cast LSWC +Ps.  Compared with my S&W Model 640, the Ruger is much easier to control with full power .38s, due to the weight and the excellent Ruger rubber grip.

Before tonight I hadn't tried Brown Bear ammo in my BHP.  Unlike most American made ammo, Brown Bear has a steel case with a lacquer coating to prevent rust.  Some guns have functioning problems with steel cased ammunition, so I recommend testing any semiauto firearm with at least 100 rounds of steel cased ammo before purchasing a large quantity.

My Springfield XD9 has gone through several hundred rounds without any issues.  Since it's relatively cheap I was hoping the BHP would also function well with it.  I was not disappointed.  I put 100 rounds of the Brown Bear through the gun using 3 different Mec Gar mags, and 3 KRD (Argentine) mags.  I also shot 50 rounds of Blazer Brass.  As expected, I had zero malfunctions.

I picked up the KRD magazines several years ago, before the ban on new "high capacity" magazines sunset in 2004.  At the time they were about the only >10 round BHP mags available for less than an arm and a leg.  Compared with Mec Gars they are a bit rough, and one in particular seems vulnerable to follower tilt.  I plan on seeing if I can smooth them up a bit but until then, they are range mags only.  Note that Mec Gar is the OEM for Browning Hi Power magazines.  However, Mec Gar branded mags are available for slightly less than half the cost of Browning branded magazines.  I'll be getting some more Mec Gar 15 rounders.

Compared with the Blazer Brass ammo, the Brown Bear was dirty and smelled bad.  However, it cleaned up easily with some Hoppe's No.9 and I can tolerate the stink.  AIM Surplus currently has it in stock at $8.25 per box of 50 when ordered 10 or more boxes.  I regard it as a good deal if you don't reload 9mm.

Dad put 71 rounds through the RIA M1911.  He had 3 malfs, all of which could be cleared with a "tap, rack, bang."  The owner's manual notes that the gun has a 500 round break-in period.  He thinks that 2 of the malfs were probably due to the magazine which came with the gun.  He also used a couple 7 round Wolff mags which have run perfectly in his Colt M1911A1.  (The Wolff magazines are really good, and even have a dimpled follower.  Highly recommended.)

I didn't put any rounds through the M1911 but I did dry fire it a few times.  I'd guestimate the trigger pull at around 5 or 6 pounds and pretty crisp.  Quite suitable for a self defense pistol, IMO.

My impression of the RIA 1911 is that it's a pretty good gun for the money.  He paid $400 OTD for it.  Fit and finish are suitable for a service grade gun.  The metal is parkerized.  The grips are plain, uncheckered wood but the finish is well done.  Overall, it looks almost identical to a USGI 1911A1 except that it has a lowered and flared ejection port, and the magazine well is slightly beveled.

If the RIA was my gun, I'd replace the sights with ones easier to see, install an ambidextrous safety, use either Chip McCormick, Wolff, or Wilson mags, and maybe replace the grips with some nicer looking wood. Other than that the RIA M1911 seems like a very good self defense pistol right out of the box.

Veteran's Day

To all veterans who have served to defend our freedom:

Thank you.

In Honor of CA's Choice for Governor Last Night

Today my coffee is sweetened...

... with Nancy Pelosi's tears.

This Year’s Jack O’Lanterns

Yesterday the girls and I made Jack O’Lanterns.  I had them draw out on a sheet of paper how they wanted theirs to look.  Alexandra wanted “funny” while Amanda wanted “scary.”

They came out pretty good, if I do say so myself.

Alexandra’s is on the left, Amanda’s is on the right.

VMware Training and a New PC

Last week I attended a five day course on installing, configuring, and maintaining VMware vSphere 4.1.  My employer purchased an "all you can eat" license earlier this year, and I've been asked to implement it on one of our networks.  Since I have no prior experience with vSphere I asked my boss for training.  It turns out that we had some training credits which expire at the end of 2010, so I was able to register for this couse at no cost to my department.

I am very impressed with vSphere, as well as VMware's vSphere Client management program.  I find it well designed with a very good user interface.  It runs on Windows only, unfortunately.  I wish they had an OS X client.  At work I have a Windows 7 VM inside Paralles Desktop on my MacBook Pro which I can use.  I also recently setup a four year old Dell Precision Workstation 470n which I scrounged.  It's running Windows 7 x64 with 4 GBs of RAM so it runs much more smoothly than the VM on my laptop.

As a side note, the VMs I have running inside of Parallels Desktop have gotten a lot slower recently, especially the Windows 7 VM.  I am thinking of dumping PD and installing VirtualBox.

Because vSphere is basically a means to run other OSes as applications on a host I decided I wanted to have a way to refamiliarize myself with any number of OSes on a system at home.  To that end, yesterday I did something I haven't done in 12 years: I bought a new desktop PC running Windows.

For the past 10 years or so I've built my own machines.  I have two tower cases which are well designed and which have been used in several incarnations of motherboards, CPUs, and operating systems.  However, I just didn't feel like putting together a new PC, especially since I can now buy a very powerful system for under a grand.

So, yesterday I did some searching on Microcenter's website and purchased a PowerSpec B707 mini-tower system for $699 plus tax.  The basic specs are:

1. Intel Core i5 - 655K 3.2 GHz dual core CPU
2. Intel DH55TC motherboard with integrated video (VGA and DVI), sound, Gigabit LAN.
3. Samsung 1 TB hard disk
4. 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi (which I have disabled since I have an Ethernet connection)
5. DVD+/-RW drive
6. Media card reader
7. 300W power supply
8. Windows 7 Professional 64 bit
9. 4 GB of DDR3 RAM (expandalbe to 16 GB)

Because I bought the system with the idea of running other OSes inside VMs I wanted to increase the RAM.  I found an OCZ 4 GB kit (2 x 2 GB DIMMs) at Microcenter for $69.99 less a $20 mail-in rebate, so added that to the cart.

Microcenter allows you to place an order on their website and arrange for in-store pickup in 18 minutes, if they have the items in stock at your local store.  I did that and was in and out in about 10 minutes.

The PC came with a cheap Inland USB keyboard which I'm using currently but will probably replace due to the mushy feel.  It also came with an Inland mouse which I left in the packaging, in favor of the Logitech mouse I already had.  The machine didn't come with a monitor which was fine, I'm using an Acer AL2016W 20" widescreen LCD display that I bought last year.  I'm using the DVI port and it looks good.

The PowerSpec box came with no crapware installed which was a pleasant surpise.  It did include a trial version of ESET NOD32 antivirus which I removed in favor of MS Security Essentials, and also an installer for MS Office 2010 Starter Edition (lobotomized versions of Word and Excel supported by ads).

The machine is quite zippy for my uses: web browsing, light office use, as an SSH client, and to run VMs inside VirtualBox.  I haven't really pounded on the box yet but so far the CPU usage is minimal most of the time and I'm only using about half the 8 GB RAM that's installed in the system.

So far I've created VMs running Ubuntu 10.10 and Windows XP Pro SP3.  I unfortunately need the XP VM to run a VPN client which doesn't work in Windows 7; I hope to lose that particular need in the next few months.  My next VM will probably be Windows 2008 Server R2.

Another use of this box will be for me to evaluate various remote control applications.  I have GoToMyPC, LogMein, and TeamViewer in mind.

Microsoft Office for Mac 2011

Sunday night my work email account got migrated from an Exchange 2003 server to a bright, shiny, new Exchange 2010 box.  One downside to this is that WebDAVS access is no longer supported, so Monday morning I had to upgrade Entourage 2008 to Entourage 2008 Web Services Edition.  This went pretty smoothly.

In general I've been pretty pleased with Office 2008.  I'm a light user of Word and Excel, and a very light user of PowerPoint (i.e., I only open up PPT when I can't avoid it).  My primary app in Office was Entourage for my email and calendar.  With WebDAVS enabled I was able to securely check my email without having to use our VPN.  Compared with Outlook on Windows, Entourage's support for shared calendaring is somewhat lacking.  Also, I was unable to search our Global Address Book without either being on the corporate network or being VPNed in.

Monday afternoon in the day I got access to Office 2011 and installed it on my MacBook Pro.  The biggest change between 2008 and 2011 is that Entourage has been replaced by Outlook, an application missing from the Mac since Office 2001, IIRC.

Back before I moved to a Mac for my primary platform, I loathed Outlook on Windows.   In prior positions I've supported Outlook 97, 98, and 2000.  I've used those versions as well as 2002 (AKA Outlook XP).  For me it was always a slow, buggy app with an interface I didn't particularly like.

But so far Outlook 2011 is mostly working well.  We've noticed one bug when trying to schedule meetings when a participant is still on the Exchange 2003 server.  Specifically, the times shown on that person's calendar will be off by an hour.  Until everyone is migrated I'll just use Outlook Web Mail for scheduling meetings.

One thing I thought was interesting was that Office 2011 installed alongside 2008.  This is a very good feature, allowing easy rollback.  The Office for Mac team also did a good job with the migration features for Entourage to Outlook.  Outlook imported my Entourage profile seamlessly, including the server configuration and account info.  It took about 10 minutes to import my profile and setup connectivity to the server.

Outlook allows me to search our Global Address List remotely even if I'm not VPNed in.  This will be nice.

Another feature greatly anticipated by many people wanting to switch from Windows but stuck because they rely on Outlook was the lack of an easy way to migrate emails from Outlook .PST files.  Well, Outlook 2011 can read .PSTs, though it stores messages, contacts, etc. in a different format.  This will be useful for a few of my coworkers.

As for the interface, either the Outlook Mac interface is greatly improved cf. the last version I used on Windows, or my reaction to it has mellowed.  It's actually pretty decent.  Likewise, the rest of the Office apps share the "ribbon" interface introduced with Office 2007.  A lot of folks hated the ribbon but I actually like it.  So far I haven't used either Excel or Word very much so I don't know how they'll compare with the 2008 versions.

I'll post follow ups if I run into any weirdness.

Firefox 4 Beta 6

Today I installed Firefox 4 Beta 6 on my MacBook Pro and a Dell Precision Workstation running Windows 7 Enterprise.

My initial impressions are favorable.  The user interface has been revised and is now somewhat Google Chromeish.  The default toolbars are minimalist and tabs are displayed on top the address bar, rather than below it.  I prefer having the tabs below the address bar so I'm happy to see that it remains an option.

Compared with Firefox 3.6, FF4B6 seems to load pages faster on both OS 10.6 and Win7.  This may in part be due to some of my extensions not being supported in FF4 yet.  However, FF4 is supposed to offer speed improvements.

I used FF4B6 for most of the day and didn't run into any noticeable issues.  We'll see how it goes with more use but so far I'm pleased with it.

I Have Now Seen Everything