A few months back I listed my 10 favorite Windows programs of all time. High on that list was TechSmith’s SnagIt screen-capture program. I’ve been using it for years to create screen captures for books. In those cases, production people in some distant city resized, cropped, paginated, and otherwise dealt with the logistics of integrating screen captures with text. In the last few years, though, I’ve increasingly used SnagIt’s capture and editing tools to produce graphics for the web without the safety net of an editor.

Two weeks ago, I got an e-mail offering me an advance copy of SnagIt 9, embargoed until June 10. I installed it a few days later and tinkered with it a bit. Then I decided to use it to create the gallery of step-by-step instructions accompanying my 10 top Vista tweaks series.

What most impressed me about this upgrade was how simpler it makes the process of capturing and creating illustrations. The new version adds an organizer that integrates with the image editor and provides access to it using the new Microsoft Office 2007 Ribbon interface. Here, take a look for yourself:

I used arrow and text tools in the Draw tab of the Ribbon to annotate regions on the image in the main workspace, which I created by cropping, cutting, and pasting screen shots onto a blank canvas. That row along the bottom is the Tray, which gives you quick access to recent captures as well as those you’ve previously saved in a Library. The navigation pane on the right side lets you tag captures and then sort and browse those files (plus other image and document files) by date, by program, or by location.

Aiming the mouse pointer at a thumbnail produces a live preview a la Windows Vista.

This is still a labor-intensive process, and as I use these tools I’ll no doubt come up with more efficient ways to work and more interesting presentations to create. But still, it would have taken easily three times as long to accomplish this job with SnagIt 8. What I like most about this upgrade is that it didn’t try to shovel new features into a program that was already pretty feature-packed. Instead, the interface changes made it easier for me to find and work with features the program already had.

Apparently, SnagIt 9 has explicit support for x64 versions of Windows . At least that’s my guess from the DLLx64 and XP64 subfolders in the SnagIt 9 Program Files folder.

The license agreement borrows a fair and reasonable provision from Microsoft Office as well. It allows you to use the software on a work computer and on either a portable device or a home computer (but not both ), as long as the two copies are not used concurrently.

With this upgrade, SnagIt has definitely moved up a place or two among my favorites. For anyone who produces web-based content or printed pages, the $50 cost is a bargain. If you’re using any previous version, it’s worth every penny of the upgrade price. (And until August 12, the upgrade is discounted an additional 20%, so updating an old copy of version 6 or 7 is only $19.95. You can get upgrade prices and feature tables here.)

I just replaced my five-year-old Canon PowerShot digital camera with a new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX35. How to test its high-speed burst mode? I know! Let’s invite a rambunctious puppy over to play with our slightly older but still rambunctious puppy!

This is Doogie (aka Duke), the visitor:

And here are Doogie and Mackie after an hour or so of nonstop romping in the backyard:

The perspective on that second shot is interesting. Mackie, in back, is easily three times the size of his little friend, but you wouldn’t know it from this shot.

OK, back to work. For me, I mean, not them.

Omar Shahine on iPhone.new 

To be honest, I have an iPod Touch right now and I actually consider that the music playing experience sucks pretty bad when compared to a Zune or an old skool iPod. There is simply no replacement for having hard buttons to control audio and the whole screen flip thing is annoying.

And while I am at it, iTunes has turned into a slow bloated buggy application that I can’t stand to use any more… and the new Zune Player kicks its butt. Apple needs to throw away the Windows code base and start over with something that is actually a Windows App and not as terrible as QuickTime on Windows.

But anyway, it won’t change the fact that I have $400 earmarked for my iPhone v2.

An excellent read. A case study in how Apple makes smart people willingly and knowingly make ill-advised buying decisions with eyes wide open.

But this is my favorite part:

BTW, the new iPhone isn’t cheaper and if you think so then you can’t do the math.

Yep.

Activity on Long Zheng’s UX Taskforce in the last seven days:

18,128 votes cast (average 100 per hour)

449 submissions posted

1,633 comments written

573 registered users

159,000 hits since its launch

Awesome!

(Background here and here.)

I’m going to go out on a limb and predict that Long is hired as Steven Sinofsky’s assistant in late 2009 and is in charge of the Microsoft UX team in 2019. You read it here first.

Update:

Steven Hodson adds: 

My hat goes off to Long on this endeavor and I think it has to be a great contribution to the whole Windows community. I really hope that as Long says that the developers at Microsoft are really paying attention this time because this is in my estimation the most valuable resource they have – the real Windows community.

Absolutely right. The anti-Microsoft voices are loud, but the sheer numbers in a community like Long’s (or at this week’s TechEd conference or at PDC in October) are much more impressive, in a quiet, getting-things-done way.

I just published part 1 of a monster how-to series over at ZDNet. It’s a compilation of my 10 favorite tweaks for Windows Vista. It’s a huge package, in two parts (five tweaks this week, the remaining five next week) with step-by-step instructions in a separate gallery of annotated screenshots.

Here’s a summary of what’s in 10 Top tweaks for Windows Vista, Part 1:

1. Get installed programs organized and up-to-date

The default format for the list of installed programs in Control Panel is a dull, gray list that matches its Windows XP predecessor. But with a few clicks, you can add a wealth of useful information (like current version numbers for every program in the list) and group entries in ways that are more useful.

2. Tweak the taskbar and desktop

The first thing I do with every new Windows system I set up is to make the taskbar taller. I also make desktop clutter vanish completely without losing access to files and shortcuts on the desktop. Here’s how.

3. Set up a smart, automated backup system

How often should you have to reinstall Windows? The correct answer is “Never.” Using built-in backup tools that are included with some Vista editions, you can save a system image that can be restored from disk – complete with drivers and your installed programs – in a fraction of the time it would take to reinstall.

4. Get fast access to common tasks

I constantly hear that some tasks in Windows Vista take too long, especially those that have to do with networking. Want one-click access to network settings and other useful tasks, complete with automatic keyboard shortcuts? Follow the step-by-step instructions.

5. Fine-tune Windows Explorer

Vista’s version of Windows Explorer is a radical reworking of the XP-style Explorer you know and probably don’t love. With three tweaks and a slightly adjusted mindset (hint: think of a modern airline’s hub-and-spoke model), you’ll find most file-management tasks significantly easier.

If you have any comments, suggestions, or questions, feel free to ask in the comments here or in the TalkBack section there.

I’m seeing a bunch of headlines today that say things like The iPhone Gets Faster and Cheaper.

Well, maybe. if all you look at is the initial cost. I paid $399 for Judy’s iPhone last December, and the new model would be only $199. So, that’s $200 less, right?

Not if you look at the total cost. Here, do the math with me:

An iPhone without a data plan is worthless. In fact, you are required to purchase a data plan from AT&T with your iPhone. The iPhone data plan on our current account is $20 a month for unlimited use plus 200 text messages. But the data plan for the new phone is $30 a month (in addition to a voice package of $40 per month or more) and requires a two-year contract. So, at $10 a month, times 24 months, that’s an extra $240 you’re required to pay over the life of the contract, which wipes out the $200 savings and then some.

Update: Kevin C. Tofel points out that the 200 included text messages go away as well. Judy and I actually use that capability a fair amount. At 20 cents per message, we might rethink it.

If you’re a business user, the unlimited data plan in the U.S. costs $45 a month. That’s not a price increase. But it’s a lot of money.

And when the new iPhone comes out on July 11 you will be able to buy it only in retail stores (no more mail order sales), and activating the thing will be possible only in brick-and-mortar stores as well. Presumably this will cut down on the number of unlocked phones in circulation, or at least make them more expensive.

I know I promised to give away two copies of Windows Vista Inside Out, Deluxe Edition, but I got so many good entries I decided to make it four.

Cory and Corrine each get a copy for their many contributions to the comments section over time. (And a hint for those lurking here: I read all the comments and pay special attention to those from regular visitors…)

From the remaining entries, I randomly selected Vince Winterling and Josh.

I’ll be sending an e-mail to all of you asking for shipping information.

Congratulations, and thanks to everyone who contributed.

Oh, and I especially like the fact that this is post #2008. Seems fitting somehow…

Power Pack 1 for Windows Home Server, which includes a fix for the rare but serious data corruption bug and also adds support for x64 Vista clients, is now available as a public beta.

Details at ZDNet:

Windows Home Server gets a big bug fix (and much more)

If you’re running Windows Home Server, trust me: you want this.

Paul Thurrott points out the unfortunate resemblance between the logo for Microsoft’s worst Windows version ever and the logo for Apple’s soon-to-be-launched MobileMe service. “Exchange for the rest of us,” they call it, seriously:

As Paul notes, “With a logo like that, this thing can’t fail!”

I cannot wait for the snark to begin flying the first time MobileMe has a hiccup or a performance problem.

Jeff Atwood tells the tale of a social website that asked him to divulge his e-mail login name and password as part of their “find your friends” routine. He’s right, it’s an inexcusably offensive idea and a giant step backwards in online security:

How did we end up in a world where it’s even remotely acceptable to ask for someone’s email credentials? What happened to all those years we spent establishing privacy policies to protect our users? What happened to the fundamental tenet of security common sense that says giving out your password, under any circumstances, is a bad idea?

I can understand the cutthroat desire to build monetizable "friend" networks by any means necessary. Even if it means encouraging your users to cough up their login credentials to competing websites. But how can I take your privacy policies seriously if you aren’t willing to treat your competitors’ login credentials with the very same respect that you treat your own? That’s just lip service.

Email is the de-facto master password for a huge swath of your online identity. Tread carefully…

Meanwhile, in one of those delightfully serendipitous bits of coincidence, the Official Google Blog offers some sound advice on passwords. Of their five tips, #4 is most relevant:

Don’t share your passwords with anyone. Not family, not friends, not anyone. This may seem a little strict, but the reality is the more people you share your password with, the greater your chances of having that password compromised will be.

Definitely don’t share your e-mail password with some random website.