Setting Windows as default after installing Jolicloud

I have played with Jolicloud a bit on my computer, and I like it.  I would not be upset at all if stores started selling netbooks with Jolicloud preinstalled.

For those of you who do not know what Jolicloud is, it is a light, linux-based operating system that is mostly cloud-based.  Most of the applications actually run in the web browser. While this means you need to be connected to the internet to use it, it also means that netbooks with built-in 3G or 4G internet access will need much smaller hard drives, and documents saved in Jolicloud can be accessed anywhere with internet access.

To make it easier to try, Jolicloud offers a Windows installer, which creates a bootable disk image and adds it to the Windows boot menu. All you have to do to use Jolicloud is reboot.  If you don’t like it, boot back into Windows and uninstall it from the Add/Remove Programs menu.

The problem with this is Jolicloud sets itself as the default OS when you install it this way.  Most people trying Jolicloud probably do not like this, since they are likely more used to Windows, and they do not want to have to manually select Windows when they want to use it, and would rather have Windows boot automatically with an option to boot Jolicloud instead, not the other way around.

Jolicloud does not make it easy to switch the default back to Windows.  However, I do.  Here is how to do it in Windows Vista or Windows 7 in 3 easy steps:

1. Open a command prompt as an administrator
   ** To do this quickly, press the Start button, type cmd then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER. Select “Yes” in the User Account Control Dialog.  If you have UAC disabled, just run the command prompt normally.
2. type bcdedit /default {current} then press ENTER
   ** You can copy the command above to the clipboard, then paste it in the Command Prompt window by right-clicking, then clicking Paste (CTRL+V does not work in the command prompt).
3. type exit then press ENTER, or click the close button.

Next time you reboot the computer, it will give you until the count of 5 to select Jolicloud. If you don’t, Windows will start.  If you want a shorter (or longer) countdown, then follow these 3 easy steps:

1. Open a command prompt as an administrator
2. type bcdedit /timeout # (where # is the number of seconds you want the countdown to last) then press ENTER
3. type exit then press ENTER, or click the close button.

If you want to set Jolicloud as default again, that’s a little bit more complicated:

1. Open a command prompt as an administrator
2. type bcdedit then press ENTER. Look for something towards the bottom that says “Real-mode Boot Sector” and lists “Jolicloud” as the desctiption.
3. right-click, then click “Mark”. Click and drag to highlight the listed identifier, including the curly brackets.  Note that this identifier is randomly-generated and will be different on your computer. Press ENTER to copy this to the clipboard.
4. type bcdedit /default then right-click and choose “paste”. Press ENTER.
5. type exit then press ENTER, or click the close button.

And now you have the default OS you want!  Doing this in XP is very different, so I’ll put up those instructions a bit later.

My take on Windows 7

I’ve been playing with the Windows 7 release since a few days after it was released to the public. So far, it’s living up to the hype. Here’s a brief comparison between XP, Vista, and 7 (in my opinion):

	Windows XP	Windows Vista	Windows 7
Bootup time	Good 4/5	Varies with the position of the moon 2/5	Good 4/5
Appearance	Good, but got old quickly 3/5	Amazing 4/5	Incredible 5/5
System requirements	It runs on my dad’s computer unmodified 5/5	Brings the most advanced technology in the galaxy to its knees 2/5	Somewhere between XP and Vista 4/5
Performance	Speedy with a decent system 3/5	Speedy with top-of-the-line system, liquid nitrogen cooling, and live human sacrifice 1/5	Does this thing read my mind or something? 4/5
Ease of use	Confusing transition from 98, but easy to navigate after a month or so 4/5	Confusing transition from XP, but easy to navigate after years of therapy 2/5	Confusing transition from XP, slight behavioral modification needed with transition from Vista 3/5
Reliability	First version of Windows I used that could run for more than a couple hours at a time (actually had it up to three solid weeks) Frequent blue screens and freezes upon trying something new 3/5	Less blue screens than XP. More random crashes of individual apps. 3/5	Have not had a single blue screen. OS has not frozen. Individual apps crash less often 4/5
Backwards Compatability	Broke some pre-XP programs. I only had one game that no longer worked in XP. Many of my Windows 98 DirectX games ran better in XP 4/5	Most of my Windows 9x games no longer run. Some XP apps do not work. 64-bit edition no longer has any legacy 16-bit support 1/5	About the same as Vista, slightly better 2/5
Overall	4/5	2/5	4/5

I heard that Microsoft also reworked the way the graphics are handled. The experience index ratings show the effects of that. Here’s a comparison on my laptop, before and after:

	Vista (64-bit)	7 RC1 (64-bit)
Processor	4.8	4.9
RAM	5.9	5.9
Graphics (Aero)	4.1	4.1
Graphics (Gaming)	3.6	5.1
Primary HDD	5.3	5.3

Everything’s pretty much the same… except look at the Gaming Graphics score. Before, 3.6. Now, 5.1. Five point freaking one! The Gaming Graphics score is no longer the one dragging down the curve. Now it’s my Aero Graphics. My base score has shot from 3.6 to 4.1! I fail to see any improvement in the Half-Life 2: Lost Coast Video Stress Test benchmark, however.

Even in the places where performance hasn’t improved statistically, it feels snappier, which some attribute to the reworked graphics “sharing”.

So, In all, I like Windows 7 about as much as I liked XP in its heyday. Of course, Windows 7 is better. Also, somehow, Microsoft figured out something that’s going to win over a lot of people. Windows 98 had a colorful bootup screen with animation. Windows XP had a simpler boot screen with with just the logo and a scrolling bar animation. Vista had an incredibly boring boot screen, with just the scrolling bar and copyright text. Yet, 7 has the most impressive boot screen I’ve ever seen on ANY operating system, and yet it boots slightly faster than Vista’s lackluster splash. Seriously, if you haven’t seen it, hit play below.

I am looking forward to Windows 7’s release. It may be the first version I actually want to upgrade to since XP (rather than just stick with the old version until I have to buy a new computer preloaded with the newer version).

Microsoft Bob to be included in Windows 7

I have a close friend who works at Microsoft, who told me yesterday that starting with the next beta release of Windows 7, the traditional Explorer GUI will be made optional. By default, the new Microsoft BOB 7 will be the GUI on capable computers (Experience Rating index of at least 6.2).

The new BOB 7 GUI will feature the reappearance of Rover (last seen in Windows XP as a search assistant), as well as the rest of the original BOB cast, as well as many new characters. They will all be rendered live in 3D, taking advantage of DirectX 11's new features.

According to my friend, he hear Melinda Gates say "Maybe BOB will actually have some users now that it'll be shoved in their faces. Then maybe my dream of conquering the world through my husband's brainchild using cute yet obnoxious helpers and clunky, unusable interfaces... Maybe BOB's prophecy will be fulfilled." She followed this comment with maniacal laughter.

I think this is a great idea. I really need an anthropomorphic yellow lab to help me balance my checkbook. I can't do it myself.

WTF weekend?

Ok... This weekend was an officially weird one for computers...

• First issue: I noticed this one as it was happening. Google's goof-up was later attributed to human error. The problem? A single "/" in the wrong place acted as some sort of wildcard.
• Second issue: Portions of my university's website were unexpectedly down for part of the weekend, including the Blackboard webapp, where students go to look up homework assignments, download class materials, check their grades, etc. Basically a big part of the student resources offered by my university. I did not witness this myself as I must have used it for what I needed before it tumbled off the face of the web, but many of my classmates have raised complaints in class.
• Third issue: This one struck a bit closer to home. My future mother-in-law (who is generously providing me with room and board after a recent tragedy, which I will talk about later) had a lot of trouble with her work-at-home setup. She's a phone representative for a well-known phone company. Countless times on Saturday, her VPN connection would be dropped like a hot potato. Just before every drop, my internet connection speed would drop from 1.5Mbps to sub-dialup speeds, with resumable downloads being forced to restart from scratch. Also, just before that, my download speeds nearly doubled for a few seconds, outside what I would expect from an actively shared connection. I have no idea what was going on there, but it didn't seem to be my fault; the disconnects continued after I had shut down. Previous erratic download speeds seemed to be attributable to my Wii, but since a few firmware updates ago, the problem was gone. I doubt the problem has returned, but if the problems continue today, I will try disabling WiiConnect24. I've all but ruled out internet conection issues, by running line tests and speed tests which all came back with expected results.
• Fourth Issue: Friday night, Netflix was a Netflop. Watch Instantly was virtually unusable. Streaming would fail shortly into a movie, and would refuse to rebuffer, claiming it could not reach the server. Other movies worked briefly, at which they would refuse to buffer. This isn't related to time limits, because it is an unlimited plan, and Netflix worked once again Sunday.
• Fifth issue: My father's computer suddenly stopped recognizing USB Mass Storage devices: his digital camera, his brother's flash drive, etc. all showed up but were inaccessable ("Please insert a disk into drive X:", etc). I remoted in through VNC, and watched his screen as he plugged in devices. Sometimes it was the above mentioned symptom, sometimes it was "USB device not recognized". Bypass the hub, same problem. Reboot, same problem. So I drive over, and it's working perfectly. We both scratched our heads for a half an hour trying to reproduce the error.

And that's a wrap for now. I have never seen this many inexplicable, apparently self-resolving issues in one WEEK, even when I was an assistant tech in High School (where I found my share of WTFs, but they were at least explainable or fixable), nevermind less than three days.

===EDIT===
Ok, here's something I just found out. 30 seconds of porn gets spliced into the Super Bowl broadcast for Tuscon, AZ Comcast cable subscribers. So far it seems a hacker hijacked the standard definition signal. Why can't cable hackers insert in wholesome material, like Care Bears? Full story.