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Software with New Computers by Hilton Kaufman, member of the Chicago Computer Society, Illinois

www.ccs.org  hmkaufman(at)earthlink.net                  

When a typical consumer buys a computer, some software or programs normally comes with it.  Just what is included will vary with price and brand, but usually includes an operating system as a minimum.  It is possible to get a custom built machine without any software if this is actually wanted. 

I recently bought an HP Media Computer, that I consider an overkill machine, for home use.  A lot of software comes with it.  There are several separate programs for working with audio-visual files and DVDs, two money management programs, several games, two internet browsers, two office suites plus an extra word processor, a security program, and probably a few other small programs.   

In the vast majority of computers delivered today, the operating system that is included is some version of Windows XP.  This includes a number of possibly useful programs in a folder or directory called Accessories.  For many people, this will be all that is needed to get good use out of a computer. 

The manufacturer of the machine very likely included some additional programs.  Maybe this brings you up to your required level of software.  If you do need more, the included programs may provide deals or better prices on the others that you need. 

Check out what you have before rushing out to buy more.   

Microsoft Windows Media Player should be adequate for playing most music and video files and comes with the operating system.  The major competing program, RealPlayer, also seems to have come with the operating system.  (I believe there is some sort of legal requirement that it be included.)  In addition to playing music, you can also do things like listen to the hourly online BBC news headlines. 

I personally do not use either of the money management programs, Microsoft Money and Quicken.  I may be a bit paranoid but I do not put personal financial data on a computer that is regularly connected to the Internet.  Spyware gets on computers too easily, even with good defenses. 

I find several of the games to be fun to play, as well as good to kill time when I don’t want to do anything serious.  The virtual pinball machine comes complete with arcade noises and has the same motif as the last real one that I had a chance to play some years ago.  Free Cell is a thinker’s card game with most deals possible to win.  There is also a straight solitaire game that is quite popular among long-time computer users. 

Both Internet Explorer and Netscape are included.  My Internet service provider seems to prefer to work with Internet Explorer.  The default setting that came with my machine was Netscape.  Other browsers can be downloaded if wanted.   

There is a minimal level word processor, called WordPad, that comes with Windows operating systems.  For many computer users, it is perfectly adequate.  It will do letters and small plain text documents, such as an article for publication in a computer club newsletter, quite well.  There is a choice of font styles and colors.  A common starting document, such as a letterhead, can be saved and renamed when used for another document. 

Microsoft Works and Office are collections of related software or suites of programs for office purposes, with Office being the one for professional users and large offices.  Both have word processors that are more powerful than WordPad.  Most home and small business users have no reason to use anything more powerful than Works.   

Without getting into a lot of details, I can say that Microsoft Office is a very powerful and versatile office suite.  There are increasingly expensive versions available with programs of interest to limited numbers of users.  I received a 60-day free demo of the bottom of the line version of Office with my computer.  If I upgrade during the trial period, I need only to pay the upgrade price for even the most expensive version. 

Some sort of security program came with the program that would be good for a limited time unless I paid a subscription fee.  Windows XP also has an adequate firewall for most users.  I removed the security program since I am subscribing to an excellent one through my Internet service provider.   

While the included programs you get can vary greatly with the brand and price of the machine, those that come with Windows XP remain constant.  You can have a machine built to order with hardly anything in it or fully loaded.  The default word processing suite from Dell seems to be a Corel WordPerfect one, but you can order a Microsoft suite for a slightly higher price.  An off-the-shelf Media Center machine will routinely come with a lot of stuff. 

While each machine is different, you should learn what you already have before adding more programs.  You may already have something that will do what you want or will enable you to get a discount on what you want to add.  ■ 

Hilton Kaufman serves as the technical support person in the procedures writing unit of the Illinois Department of Employment Security. As such, he uses the software provided to him to create forms, convert documents into PDFs, advise members of his unit as to how to use the available software, and similar tasks.

For his home computer, he can go all out and get a powerful machine that allows him to do things like playing games and surf the web without getting in trouble.  He has prepared a number of articles aimed at novice users on the basics of standard computer programs.

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author.  The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.   

Digital Resolution Made Confusing By Dave Chrestenson, Member of the Fox Valley PC Association, Illinois

Digital Photographer/Hobbyist

There seems to be a plethora of articles on the number of pixels required to create your photos to their full glory. Many of the articles disagree with each other and some are mystifying (to say the least); occasionally a few are wrong. So here I will approach it from a different point of view, I'll give you the knowledge and let you decide what you need. Ready? Here we go!

Let's start with some facts. (I'll reconsider these later, but we have to start somewhere.) First, the average eye, relaxed, focuses at a distance of about fifteen inches. So that's about the distance people view their prints

Second, the angle of comfortable vision (not acute) is generally agreed to be about fifty to fifty-five degrees. Beyond that is peripheral vision. Now, fifty degrees at fifteen inches subtends a distance of about thirteen inches, just covering the diagonal of an 8x10. Is it any wonder that size is so popular?

And third, the typical eye has a resolution of about one minute of angle. This works out, at fifteen inches, to about .004 inches, or approximately 229 dots in an inch. (For purposes of clarity I will use the term pixels when referring to the camera sensor and dots when referring to the print. But in this discussion they can be considered equivalent. (Don't compare this with the resolution (normally also referred to as dots) of printers. They are completely different animals. (Subject for another article?)

For convenience and to assure a tolerance, for now let's round that up to 300 dpi. This means that we need 300 dpi (at 15 inches) on the paper to assure that we won't see individual dots. Now, it's easy enough to work backwards from there. Assume that we wish to print an 8x10. Ten inches across at 300 dpi is 3000 dots. Eight inches down at 300 dpi is 2400 dots. So we need a camera of 3000 x 2400 pixels, or 7.2 meg. (This is assuming a camera with square pixels, not all have that, the Fuji S3 for example has hexagonal pixels, two sizes, no less. (Subject for still another article?) Simple huh? Maybe.

But let's try another example first. Assume you just want to print a picture half that size, 4 x 5 is more common. Then 4 times 300 equals 1200 and 5 times 300 equals 1500, so our camera need only be 1.8 meg. That's not so bad, is it? But before you dash right out to buy a 2 meg camera on sale, let's take a look at some of those original figures.

I said that the average eye views an image at 15 inches. That's an "average" eye. It can vary from that... a lot. Depending on age, it can go from 3 inches (a youngster) to more than 6 feet. (An old timer.) And that's for an eye that's working well. Near-sighted? You'll hold the picture closer. (Assuming you don't wear correction lenses, of course.) Far-sighted? Further away. Have astigmatism? A mess! So, if you hold your picture at 7.5 inches, you will need twice the number of pixels, or 600, per inch. An 8x10 would require a 28.8 meg camera. Good grief! Thirty inches viewing distance is a lot easier, a 1.8 meg one will do the job. Also, some eyes can see significantly better than one minute of angle, some can reach ½ minute. That's even worse, you need 600 dpi at 15 inches, which means we're back to a 28.8 meg camera for an 8x10, and a 7.2 meg one for a 4x5. But you can do the math. And do you really need to have the dots as small as theory suggests? Well, to make it more confusing, there are other considerations that affect that. Bright lighting needs higher resolution, dim lighting needs less. Glossy paper? Higher resolution. Matt paper, less. High contrast image, more, low contrast, less. Ad infinitum.

 
Finally, what if you have taken the definitive photo of Yosemite, the one to equal Ansel Adams, and you want to have it printed at, say, 16x20 and frame it. Do you still need 300 dpi? Probably not. After all, peo­ple don't normally hold a 16x20 in their hands and look at it from 15 inches. Remember the 50 degree vi­sion. So, you'll probably be hanging it on the wall, where they will view it from a distance. Experience shows that people will move backward or forward when viewing a picture until it subtends that 50 degree angle. So you might well get away with 150 dpi.

But, getting back to the more normal usage, handheld prints, do you need 300 dpi there? Again, maybe. In many cases you may get away with less. But if you go below 150 dpi you are almost certain to get obvious visual pixilation at that distance. Of course, Photoshop to the rescue, you can resample upwards and in-crease the number of pixels to what works. You're not adding detail, but at least you're getting rid of those annoying “jaggies.”

Clear? I didn't think so. Remember, I said "Made Confusing." But at least you are now confused on a much higher plane! Good luck.

Editor’s comments: Dave has presented several programs over the years that have gone into great detail on various aspects of digital photography. From cameras and lenses and from basic photo software to the flagship of the genre: Adobe Photoshop. His knowledge has always impressed me and we always enjoy his point of view on this topic. He presented a program last month: “Pursuing the Path From Pixels to Pic­tures, ” which could have easily gone late into the afternoon. All present enjoyed his program. Thanks Dave!

Jon Jackman

 There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author.  The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.