Ok, we have all heard what is said about people who sit inside and play video games all day. They are lazy and do nothing but eat potato chips and get fat (I know, my mom tells me the same thing). Well, Nintendo has come out with something that will change the way gamers are viewed forever. I am talking about the Wii Fit. I have yet to try the Wii Fit, but from what friends and family say, it is awesome. Wii Fit comes with a balance board and the Wii Fit game.

With nearly 200 computers in the library system, it is not uncommon for the I/T Dept. to be forced to reinstall the Windows operating system for computers here and there. As a matter of fact, it's a day-long process and although it's time-consuming, it's usually a no-brainer until....

Microsoft makes an "improvement" that they to call "Windows updates". When they do that, it makes reinstalling the operating system downight frustrating. Nearly a year and a half ago, they released a major update called "Service Pack 3" for the Microsoft XP Professional OS.

Now, if you don't know by now, you can't buy a computer with Windows XP anymore. I think Microsoft stop selling those back in the summer of 2007. That means if you go to the store (or online) and buy a computer, you are stuck with purchasing Microsoft's latest OS, Windows Vista.

(As an FYI, there were two different versions of XP: Home and Professional. While there are four different versions of Vista: Home, Home Premium, Business and Ultimate).

However, right before they stop selling and providing support for XP machines, they can out with SP3. Now, I am not a Microsoft hater, just a "consumer watchdog". I use Microsoft products everyday both here at work and at home. (This is a good place to sigh.) The problem with Microsoft choosing to release an update like this is that if it has "bugs" then they don't necessarily "have-to" fix those bugs and that leaves us with computer "that aren't acting right" (as my grandmother would say). That also means that if you are not a technie, then you will probably take your computer to somewhere like Best Buy. If that doesn't work, you get frustated and buy a new computer (as my grandmother would do). I think you see the benefit for Microsoft here, don't you? I know far too many people who have made Microsoft rich off of the number of computers that they have bought throughout the years (just ask my grandmother) but that's for another blog posting......

Soon after SP3 came out, I probably reinstalled Windows on 5-8 library computers and each one of them crashed soon after SP3 was installed it. As I backtrack my thinking to try and figure out what was different this time as opposed to all of the other times that I had reinstalled Windows, I realized that it was SP3, which took nearly an hour by itself to install. That made the whole Windows reinstallation process now - a day and a hour. :-) Unfortunately, I had to reinstall the OS on each of these computers at least once more leaving SP3 out of the picture and all has been well since. (Even Best Buy doesn't install SP3.) Just a few weeks ago, I was "checking up" on one of pre-SP3 computers and have since found SP3 did installed itself (if you have automatic updates turned on) and strangely enough it hasn't crashed - yet!!!!

So, if you have a XP Professional on your home (or small business computer) and it begins to act strange after installing Windows updates, you might want to check Add/Remove Programs to see if SP3 is installed. Even though some in the "tech world" have said that Microsoft has made "the appropriate improvement to SP3 to prevent problems", I still don't trust it and a year and a half later, I still do not install it on any of the library's Windows computer. Hopefully, you won't find yourself having to reinstall Windows because of SP3.

In the past decade we have seen gaming go from a joy stick with pong, to a controller that looks like it can drive your car. It is also evident the technology that is available to us. Gamers can tell you first hand the leaps in technology that we have made. I want to talk to you about the consoles that are on the market today.

I want to start out with the PlayStation 3. Sony has been around for a long time and they have been in the video game business for a while as well. They are the creators of the "PlayStation." The picture to the right is the PlayStation 3. Like the name describes, it is the 3rd installment in the PlayStation family. But this system does more than just play games. The "PS3" can be hooked up to the Internet and used like a computer. Since you can hook it up to the Internet, you can also play your friends online via the PS3. (They must have the same game to play.) Another awesome feature about the PS3 is it is a BluRay player. It will play all your BluRay movies. The memory in the PS3 ranges from 40 - 80. Of course the higher memory, the higher the cost. Over all a good system and the cheapest form of BluRay.



Next up is the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360, or 360, is made by Microsoft. The Xbox in general has not been out that long, but has made a big impact on the gaming industry. The 360 is the 2nd installment of the Xbox. This system has been made popular thanks to the "Halo Trilogy." Like the PS3, you can play your friends online. (They must have the game to play with you.) But unfortunately, the 360 cannot browse the Internet. The 360 plays games and DVDs only. At one point, Microsoft was making HDDVD players for the 360, but the HDDVD era has come and gone. The 360 is a great system. It is also cheaper than the PS3. You have 3 choices to chose from when purchasing a 360: The cheapest system is around $199 for the Core System (no hard drive), the next system is $299 (with 60GB hard drive), and the Elite System is around $388 (with 120GB hard drive). Overall great system.



The last system I want to discuss is the Nintendo Wii. When Nintendo made the Wii, they had the family in mind. This system requires more then just sitting on your couch. This is an interactive gaming console that requires you to move the Wii Remote More body action than thumb action. The Wii has some pretty cool features as well. The Wii has a built in wireless adapter for those who have wireless Internet. Just like the PS3, you can browse the Internet. Some of the popular games for the Wii are Mario Cart and Wii Fit (which was sold out in most stores for Christmas). The Wii has built in memory (I am unsure of the amount) and it has a slot for a SD card. An SD card is what you digital camera uses to store pictures. It is the cheapest all around system at $249. The controllers are cheaper and the games are cheaper. If you are looking to involve you entire family, no matter the age, then the Wii is what you want.

All of these systems are good. I currently own a Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii and I enjoy playing both of them. If you have a child or a teenager that has been begging you for a new gaming console, I hope this helped you out. Once again, Happy New Year and happy gaming.