Is Windows 7 Home Premium good enough? Do you need Professional or Ultimate edition?

MS Windows 7 has been around for quite some times now, and the OS for new computers nowadays will be Windows 7 (no more Vista nor XP), beside Linux.

If you were to pick Windows 7, as a home user, you have a few options. Most PC vendors will let you select between Win 7 Home Premium or Win 7 Professional.

The question that many buyer will ask: Is Win 7 Home Premium good enough? Do I need to pay extra for the extra features in Professional or even Ultimate edition?

I found a report by Ed Bott in ZDNet pretty informative.

After reading the article, I found that most home user should be enough with Home Premium, unless:

• Your computer has more than 16GB RAM, or plan to upgrade the RAM to that amount in near future.
• You want easy access to network projectors.
• You want a one-button way (the Presentation Mode) to disable things like pop-up notifications and screen savers.  
• You want a built-in Encryption File System (EFS) to encrypt a file or folder inside your Home folder so that it can only be unlocked when you log on with your user credentials. (Note: there are 3rd party alternatives which are equivalent or better than this)
• You want to have a licensed copy of Windows XP (at no additional cost) to run as virtualized machine within your Windows 7.
• You want your system image backup files to be stored across the network. (Home Premium will store it locally)
• You want a built-in folder synchronization feature similar to Windows Live Mesh. (You need to install separately for Home Premium)
• You want to make full use of Active Directory features. (Do you have many Windows PC at home until you need to use Active Directory?)
• You want a built-in Remote Desktop server for other to remotely access and control your computer.

The above are additional features in Win 7 Professional on top of Home Premium. And the below are additional features in Win 7 Ultimate on top of Professional:

• Boot from virtual hard drive
• Availability of Multilingual User Interface (MUI) packs. (Language Interface Pack is available for other editions of Win 7)
• BranchCache and DirectAccess to improve connectivity on networks that use Windows Server 2008 R2
• AppLocker
• BitLocker drive encryption
• Subsystem for UNIX applications

Mystery code "9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a" in US Cyber Command emblem cracked

The emblem/logo of newly established United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) has something unique from the emblems of other units in US Department of Defence (DoD).

If you look carefully, you will notice a ring of mystery code "9ec4c12949a4f31474f299058ce2b22a" along the inner gold ring of the emblem.

Over the past few days, this code has become the hot discussion in the Internet, and also well reported in the news media. By now, the code has been cracked.

It is the MD5 (Message-Digest algorithm 5) cryptographics hash of US Cyber Command's mission statement, which is:

USCYBERCOM plans, coordinates, integrates, synchronizes and conducts activities to: direct the operations and defense of specified Department of Defense information networks and; prepare to, and when directed, conduct full spectrum military cyberspace operations in order to enable actions in all domains, ensure US/Allied freedom of action in cyberspace and deny the same to our adversaries.

In fact, the message above cannot be "decrypted" from the code itself, as MD5 is a kind of cryptographic hashing method instead of 2-way encryption. However, if you know the original text, you will get back the same code by hashing it with MD5.

One major use of MD5 is to verify the integrity of files and messages stored in the computer and/or transferred over the network. If the content is not the same from its origin, the MD5 code generated will be different. We call this unique verification code a "checksum".

Let's try yourself to generate the MD5 code for the above mission statement here. You can also try to crack it here. If you wonder how it can be cracked, just read the explanation on that webpage.

2nd Investor Expo 2010 @ KLCC

Organized by ShareInvestor and Malaysian Investor Relations Association (MIRA) for the 2nd year after successfully held in 2008, Investor Expo 2010 that claimed to be one of the largest investment exhibitions in Asia is coming again.

Date: 17-18 July 2010 (Sat & Sun)
Time: 10am - 8pm
Venue: Exhibition Hall 5, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, KL
Admission: Free

Interesting topics and speakers includes:

• "Malaysia's Economy - Sunrise or Sunset?" by Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武) of Capital Dynamics
• "Intelligent Investors DO NOT Buy Low, Sell High"by Tan Teng Boo (陈鼎武) of Capital Dynamics
• "Stock Market Outlook - Rest of 2010" by Teoh Ghim Meng (G.M. Teoh)
• "Harvesting Profits from Crude Palm Oil Futures"by Teoh Ghim Meng (G.M. Teoh)
• "Roadmap to Financial Freedom" by Yap Ming Hui (叶明辉) of Whitman Independent Advisors
• "Strategies to Make Consistent Profits in the Stock Market" by Adam Khoo
• "Market Outlook - Double Dip or Sweet Spot?" by Lorraine Tan of S&P
• Panel Discussion on "Malaysian Market Outlook vs. the World Market" with Lorraine Tan, Tan Teng Boo and Lee Cheng Hooi
• "New Age Investing - What Works Today" by Terence Tan of Mastery Asia
• "Understanding and Appreciating Investment-Grade Wines and En-Primeur Investing" by Chad Merchant of Premium Liquid Assets
• "3rd Quarter Financial Year 2010 Market Outlook" by Chan Ken Yew of MIMB Investment Bank
• "The Psychology of Investment" by Carol Yip of Abacus for Money
• "The Right Mindset for Long Term Investment" by Ooi Kok Hwa
• "The Magic of Property Investment" by Leow Yeow Ming of MasteryAsia
• "Residential and Office Property Market Outlook 2010: Is the Malaysian Market in a Boom?" by Allan Soo
• "Commercial and Retail Property Market Outlook 2010: Is the Malaysian Market in a Boom?" by Christopher Boyd
• "Get Rich Quick Scheme" by Bank Negara Malaysia
• and more...

Beside the free seminars, this event also features 40 exhibition booths, set up by both financial institutions and listed companies, functioning as a direct and effective platform for investors to grow their understanding of new and sophisticated investment vehicles.

See you there!

Click here to go to the official website of Investor Expo 2010.