Nvidia Driver Release

Today Nvidia has released their 331.65 drivers. The drivers work on everything from Windows 8 back to Windows XP on desktop. Unfortunately though, it looks like for mobile users, Windows XP and possibly Vista won’t be getting the driver updates. Fair enough, as both of those operating systems are getting really long in the tooth.

The drive package includes Nvidias GeForce Experience 1.7.0 release, and the whole package includes a significant boost in a number of games.

Nvidia’s release notes state increases as follows:

• Up to 12% in Battlefield 4
• Up to 19% in Sniper Elite V2
• Up to 13% in Dirt: Showdown
• Up to 9% in Metro: Last Light
• Up to 9% in Sleeping Dogs
• Up to 8% in Max Payne 3
• Up to 6% in F1 2012

It’s always worth staying on top of drivers, as there can be a lot of performance and stability fixes. So make sure to go update!

Libre Office Review

Picture From blog.banknetworking.com

For those of us who have made the switch to running Linux on a full time basis, we don’t get the luxury of running a Windows based office suite. Our options are limited to OpenOffice or Libre Office suite.

For a suite that comes free with the operating system, Libre Office is a great alternative to the Microsoft Office Suite. It provides a powerpoint, excel, word, DB, and a few other alternatives to what you find in Office. I have not run into anything yet  that I could not do with Libre Office that I could have done on Office for Windows/Mac. This might be different for people who use their office suites more comprehensively, but for most people it is a great alternative.

The one complaint I do have is that some of the features are not as intuitively place as they are in the Office suites by Microsoft. Microsoft has really nailed down how to create a sleek looking piece of software, where  to place things, and what features people want to use and gives easy access. Libre Office looks like a Windows XP program, simple functions like wrap text were burried in menus, and it just doesn’t seem like a 2013 program. It seems like a powerful program with 2002 features.

Overall it is a decent program, but I would still prefer to be working on Microsoft Office 2010 or later. The Office 365 suite blows Libre Office out of the water.

I give Libre Office 4 crushed beer cans out of 6. It is a decent piece of productivity software, but has a lot of catching up to do.

The All-In-One PC

I am in the market to get a new computer sooner rather then later. I admittedly been intrigued by the All-In-One computers that seem to have popped up lately. Some of them are pretty slick looking, and a lot of them pack a decent amount of punch too.

This recently got me too thinking about how future proof these machines really are. I have not really ever been able to get my hands dirty with any of these machines as far as part swapping and such go. So I may just be talking dumb here. But it seems that they have the upgrade ability of a laptop. Ram/HDD’s would typically be easy enough to swap out, but try and change CPU/Heatsink/Fans… Forget about it!

That basically means if you want to future proof, you can invest a large amount now in a high end All-In One and then you have to hope we do not have a dramatic pick-up again in how quick platforms change. Maybe it is just the power user in me, but this seems a bit backwards. Is it not possible to just have components more easily accessible so that power users can switch items out easier?

It’s a dilemma any power user who also needs something realtively simple to use. The All-In-Ones seem to be a pretty good value, with decent products…. But the tinkerer in me wants an All-In-One we can play around with more!