The Open Source Journal

Ever seen the cryptic "0x800ccc0f" error when trying to synchronize your IMAP folders in Outlook? The rather cryptic Microsoft errors are useless. There are literally hundreds of websites that discuss this issue and damn near everyone of them is also useless. This one is not.

Your computer should not reboot itself when you aren't there, unless you've asked it to. Few things annoy me more about Windows than when I return to my desktop only to discover a Windows Login box. Almost as annoying as this is that Windows Update pesters you to reboot your computer after applying updates, even while you're working. Nevermind that it steals focus from other windows, interefering with whatever it is you're getting paid to do, the damn thing doesn't have a "NEVER" option to choose from, just "now" and "later"!

Windows Vista has incorporated much finer grained control over Windows' power management features. Not only can you control when your monitor turns off or your hard disks spin down, new options let you choose when wireless devices go into power saving mode, USB devices suspend, and more.