A Few Vista Hidden Gems
Posted By : todd sharp Posted At : February 8, 2008 8:22 AM Posted In: Vista, Misc
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I've been working with Vista for about a year now and despite its 'intricacies' and 'quirks' I've actually grown to like it. Recently I discovered a few hidden gems that may be helpful to developers.
The first is a handy little tool that can be used to capture screen shots quickly and easily (versus the old 'print screen, paste into image editing program method).
The application is called the Snipping Tool and although not as advanced feature wise as similar programs, it is a helpful tool. You can use the tool to create the following types of captures:
- Free-form Snip. Draw an irregular line, such as a circle or a triangle, around an object.
- Rectangular Snip. Draw a precise line by dragging the cursor around an object to form a rectangle.
- Window Snip. Select a window, such as a browser window or dialog box, that you want to capture.
- Full-screen Snip. Capture the entire screen when you select this type of snip.
Once captured you can do minor editing, save the image or share via email.
Along the same line as the Snipping Tool - and somewhat of a hidden gem from Microsoft is the Windows Media Encoder (free download to registered Windows users). What enticed me to this tool is the ability to do real time video screen captures (with audio). The quality is not perfect, but for simple training type videos or demos the tool looks like a winner (compared to other paid options that is).
AppleKey-shift-3 and
AppleKey-shift-4
saves the captured image as a PNG on the desktop.
I'm so glad Vista is trying to keep up with OS X. I feel sorry for windows users thinking that Vista is somewhat innovative...
I personally could care less what OS X 'innovated' or what MS stole...
ok, so where the heck is this snipping tool? Its not listed in accessories for me on Vista Business.
You try the service pack floating around yet?
Start - All Programs - Accessories - Snipping Tool
I have not tried the SP - I'm very curious though - do you know what supposedly is being addressed with it?
I googled and found a post where others were having probs on Vista Business too. See if any of the hints in the comments here help you out:
http://lifehacker.com/software/windows-vista/windo...
The SP is supposed to address some perf/stability stuff among other things. Biggest thing I'm looking for is fixing that darn explorer issue with copy large amounts of files. Hoping updated bluetooth stuff is there too. The RTM version is out on torrents....just waiting to hear if it is kosher to use. Should be in windows update mid March I hear.
All said and done though, Vista is pretty cool and ok to me. Wish they'd add multi-monitor support though like two taskbars and such.
@Barry, How do you do a free form cut and paste in Mac? Those combos are for simple snips.
@Others, can't find something in Vista? Click Start and start typing. ie Snip and you will find what you are looking for, you can then right click and pin it to the start menu if you like
I'm having trouble finding how to justify actually paying for Vista over any other OS.
Really there is no choice. I am a Windows person always have and will be, so when I purchase a new laptop (every year) I get the new OS.
And I like Vista, sure the SP will help some things and I disabled UAC, but overall I like it.
My only real option is going over to Mac, and I look more like PC guy, so that can't happen.
Have you ever looked at any *nix releases? If not I would recommend Ubuntu as its an easy go for a first-timer, but the very reason I'm writing this post on an XP box right now is that I love to game. Other than gaming, though, I'd say about 95% of my applications are either multi-os or have respected *nix alternatives.
I actually like XP alot, but I don't have one good thing to say about Vista (I use both daily). Vista takes longer to startup, shutdown, uses like 3-4x's the system resources, and last but not least, it's annoying....and not just UAC either. Has the "Windows has detected a problem and is searching for a solution" ever fixed ANYTHING? Why does it take me 9 mouse clicks to simply get to my net adapters?
Vista claims greater security, but since a good portion of that is tied to the Jar-Jar Binks of software "features", the UAC, what's really left then besides complete annoyance?
I'm seriously asking though, just in case I'm missing something major: what does Vista offer that one can't get elsewhere?
Yes I have, I spend 2 years working on Unix systems, then 5 years working on Aix systems, then 2 years working with RedHat. I was a Certified Red Hat Engineer on V7.
I have installed countless Unix and Windows servers. And can tell you that installing SBS 2003 is far easier than any Unix equivilant. For a start, I never need to edit config files by hand. I would love to see you get Eclipse & CF & Apache working on any Nix system without using a text editor.
Further to that, all my software doesn't run on Nix. So until I can get CS3, Office, Visio, Project, SQL Server Manager and countless other programs. Then why would I even bother.
What exactly does linux give be that Vista or SBS doesn't, the answer is easy vi and config headaches.
I see. I'm sure you know, but there's FOSS alternatives to most (if not all) of those applications, but it seems that you're married to the MS-product line and so it only makes sense for you to stick with MS.
As for myself, I'm very loosely coupled with such products, and my development environment doesn't depend on any of them.
Thanks for the insight, Dale, even though I won't be rushing out to upgrade to Vista anytime soon :)