[Zsd-news] ZSD Newsletter November 2003: Time to go shopping

[Ian Forbes]

Hello All

Only 29 days to Christmas! I don't count shopping days because it seems=20
you can shop on any day of the week these days. If you don't celebrate=20
Christmas never mind, this issue is devoted to shopping and you don't=20
have to be Christian to do that.

What makes it time to go shopping is the fact that the Rand is at its=20
strongest level in years. More than that our government recently=20
decided to cut some of the duties on imported computers. The net result=20
is that computer prices are coming down, particularly prices of fully=20
imported branded PC's and laptops.

So lets take some time off from fighting with the net, and have a look=20
at what is available from the shops.

=46rom a business perspective, a new, entry level, business PC with LAN=20
adaptor, mouse, keyboard and 15" monitor, supplied and delivered by a=20
reputable dealer will cost you about R4500 including VAT.

However before you put your computer to work you will need some=20
software. Unfortunately these prices have not dropped so much. A=20
Microsoft XP Professional license will cost nearly R1600. You will=20
probably need Microsoft Office 2003 Small Business DSP at R2500 and an=20
antivirus program like Nortons, at just over R500. These licenses get=20
registered to the specific hardware, not the company or the user. So=20
when your new toy becomes obsolete, and you pass it on to the stores=20
clerk, you will need to buy new licenses for its replacement. Also=20
worth noting is that the latest version of MS Office will not run on=20
Windows 98 or older PC's.

On the home front you may get away with Microsoft XP Home for around=20
R1000. You should also check if you qualify for an "educational"=20
license for MS Office. If you have a scholar or student at home, you=20
may be entitled to one of these per household for another R1000.

If you are brave and you want to try and save some money on licenses,=20
you could look at alternate software. For an office suite,=20
"OpenOffice.org" is free, available for Windows, Mac's and Linux, and=20
can read and write Microsoft Office format files. For a small=20
organisation that is not too dependent on Microsoft Office it may be a=20
good choice. ZSD recently converted from "WordPerfect" to=20
OpenOffice.org. However the choice was motivated by a requirement for=20
platform independence as much as anything else. You can find out about=20
OpenOffice.org at http://www.openoffice.org. You can download it from=20
ftp://ftp.saix.net/pub/OpenOffice.org/stable/1.1.0. Take note,=20
OpenOffice.org has a different look and feel to Microsoft Office, it=20
will take some investment in time and frustration to convert yourself=20
and your staff from MS Office. The download is about 65 Mb, which is=20
not recommended on a dial-up connection and the Windows version is=20
resource hungry. Older versions of Windows may need to be patched with=20
updates from Microsoft before it can be installed. If you want to go=20
this route you would be well advised to invest in a good book on the=20
program.

Those who walk on the bleeding edge, may want to use Linux, which is=20
free, as an alternative to Windows as your desktop operating system.=20
Linux has matured over recent years and is a totally workable=20
production product. (I know, this news letter is being typed on a Linux=20
laptop). But to convert a key office PC, or an entire office to Linux=20
is not a project for the faint hearted. If you are interested in=20
exploring this possibility it would be a good idea to join a local=20
Linux users group (http://www.clug.org.za). I use Linux on my laptop as=20
we support over 100 servers running on Linux. E-mail server software is=20
the "killer application" for the Linux OS.

One word of caution, if you have just bought a new Microsoft XP=20
computer, make sure the latest security upgrades are installed before=20
you go onto the internet. Many PC's are installed from media that=20
predates the latest updates. These will leave them totally vulnerable=20
to worms like 'Blaster'. They will be infected within minutes just by=20
going on-line. You do not even have to receive an e-mail and anti-virus=20
software won't protect you. We get reports of these incidents on a=20
daily basis.

=46inally, if you want a change from computers, I see digital cameras have=
=20
also come down a lot in price. But please, if you want to send out your=20
photo's by e-mail, only send the good photos and send them in a=20
compressed format like 'jpg' definitely not 'bmp'. Otherwise your=20
correspondents won't appreciate your efforts at all.

Goodbye for this month. For our Muslim readers I hope your Eidd was well=20
blessed.

Ian

=2D-=20
Ian Forbes=20
ZSD http://www.zsd.co.za=20
Office: +27 21 683-1388=20
=46ax: +27 21 674-1106=20
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 46827, Glosderry, 7702, South Africa