Will Vista Have Its Day?

— -- I'm sorry to announce that this is the final edition of Community Scoop. I have enjoyed reading all of your comments, and I hope that you will continue making the PC World Community a great place.

Are you feeling sneaky? We've got a list of 12 sly Web tricks, and not everyone is happy about them. Are these cool tricks, or irresponsible pranks? Join the discussion.

Comcast is capping monthly broadband usage. Is this something for the everyday user to be concerned about? Let us know what you think.

Will Windows Vista have its day? Only time will tell, but our readers do have their opinions. Share yours with us.

Our most recommended stories this week include sly Web tricks, tech habits to improve your life, and Google Earth add-ons. To vote for your own favorites, click one of the thumbs-up icons on an article's page.

We end with product reviews from users like you. Have you gotten any new high-tech goodies recently? Let us and your fellow PC World readers know what you think of them. Go to PCW Shop & Compare to search for your gear and add a review.

Note: To use our interactive features, such as adding comments to discussions and contributing your own product reviews, you must be signed in to the PC World Web site. (Not registered? You can sign up online.) However, you can view the discussion threads and poll results without being signed in.

Kilme says:: I must admit, the Upside-Down-Ternet is hilarious. I just encrypted my own wireless connection, and wish I had found this sooner. I may give it a try someday.

Publicmenace says:: "Spoof you e-mail address" probably won't work. Most, if not all ISPs use SMPT authentication these days to prevent spammers from spoofing e-mail addresses and using the ISP's servers as open proxies. There are open proxies still available on the Internet, but not through legit ISPs.

Housknecht says:: Maybe I am getting too responsible as a middle-aged adult, but these "tricks" are entirely irresponsible, especially to have been published by a heretofore reputable entity. You are just feeding the fires of trouble that immature people create on the Internet already. You should be ashamed.

Metaphor says:: I absolutely agree! It's also appalling that so much emphasis is put on avoiding legitimate work. All those who aren't self-employed should keep in mind that some hapless employer has actually bought a good chunk of your time and every one of those hours belongs to the organization paying you. Play on your own time! Be glad you have a job--and be very glad you're not a supervisor with a staff of immature people who think these tricks are cool. Hmpf.

Read the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.

kelmerp says:: My only concern is whether or not this will affect my Hulu/Netflix InstantWatch addition.

Danthalls says:: This is not only unfair to Comcast's "unlimited use" customers, but it hurts future advancement of things like high-def streaming video, games, VoIP, and any other technology out there that relies on high-speed internet. It will hurt everyone if they are allowed to get away with it.

Shasta says:: As a major distributor of pay per view programming, isn't it a little disingenuous for Comcast to place download caps so that you will have to pay to view their offerings? I don't know many people who have Comcast Internet who don't have Comcast cable as well. It's a good way to limit competition, if you ask me.

Mjd420nova says:: As a longtime Comcast customer, this doesn't really bother me. I've measured my download usage: Seldom does it go over 150GB in a month; if it does, it's usually by about 5GB. I think these throttle controls are mainly aimed to stop or limit the spammers that have proliferated throughout Comcast's system.

Read the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.

glassmaster says:: Finally a tech article that sees the current Vista-slam as it really is: simply a repeat of XP's entrance into the mainstream that most of us have forgotten long ago. Good article!

AZITguy says:: I think Microsoft should be paying all of us for beta testing their crappy Windows software.

Tenney67 says:: I could never understand all of the bad press for Vista. I replaced one of my home computers with Vista on a HP computer nearly a year ago and never had any problems with it. Meanwhile my XP computer hangs up every once in a while.

MAcUser21 says:: The problem is that Microsoft has announced a new OS coming in 2010 called Windows 7, so people question whether they should buy Vista.

Read the posts in this thread and contribute your own opinion.

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Kellie Parker is the PC World Forums online community manager. You can sign up to have the Community Scoop newsletter e-mailed to you each week.