Comments on: Windows 7 HomeGroup not so hot in Beta 1 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2009/02/01/windows-7-homegroup-not-so-hot-in-beta-1/ Operating systems. Broadband. Issues. Reviews ... tech info you can use. Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:35:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Windows 7 Release Candidate: The Technologizer FAQ | Technologizer http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2009/02/01/windows-7-homegroup-not-so-hot-in-beta-1/comment-page-1/#comment-1948 Windows 7 Release Candidate: The Technologizer FAQ | Technologizer Tue, 05 May 2009 09:50:30 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/?p=295#comment-1948 [...] not enthralled with the Homegroup feature, which lets you get at music, movies, photos, and other content stored around your home [...] [...] not enthralled with the Homegroup feature, which lets you get at music, movies, photos, and other content stored around your home [...]

]]> By: MichaelHorowitz http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2009/02/01/windows-7-homegroup-not-so-hot-in-beta-1/comment-page-1/#comment-1601 MichaelHorowitz Wed, 04 Feb 2009 21:02:21 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/?p=295#comment-1601 The pattern here seems clear, Microsoft is a second class operation. New features are not well designed and buggy. Think Autorun and Autoplay. Not to mention error messages that rarely reflect the real problem. If, you even get an error message. Try entering the wrong WiFi password when connecting to a router with wpa-psk. No error message (at least in XP). That Vista didn't work perfectly in terms of networking with XP is another illustration in this same vein. Thus, we sometimes have to fall back on referencing shared folders by IP address, specifically, as you say, to circumvent as much Microsoft code as possible. The decline of Microsoft is getting more and more obvious. The pattern here seems clear, Microsoft is a second class operation. New features are not well designed and buggy. Think Autorun and Autoplay. Not to mention error messages that rarely reflect the real problem. If, you even get an error message. Try entering the wrong WiFi password when connecting to a router with wpa-psk. No error message (at least in XP). That Vista didn’t work perfectly in terms of networking with XP is another illustration in this same vein.

Thus, we sometimes have to fall back on referencing shared folders by IP address, specifically, as you say, to circumvent as much Microsoft code as possible. The decline of Microsoft is getting more and more obvious.

]]> By: Scot http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2009/02/01/windows-7-homegroup-not-so-hot-in-beta-1/comment-page-1/#comment-1587 Scot Tue, 03 Feb 2009 12:42:24 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/?p=295#comment-1587 Michael, what you are saying is especially true of Mac and Windows networking. I was able to network *without* HomeGroup by using this trick, or just by doing \\{Computer_Name}\. But even when I did that, the network browser (Networking folder) still didn't kick in and remember these connections. More importantly, though, HomeGroup is supposed to handle this -- for the uninitiated. Even though I was able to network in most cases (accessing Mac from Windows 7, no), HomeGroup did not work no matter what I did. Using the IP address method would be completely circumventing HomeGroup. The fact that you're resorting to IP address networking is precisely what's wrong with Windows peer networking, which, as I've written before, is balky. It only works the way it's supposed to work about 80% of the time. Michael, what you are saying is especially true of Mac and Windows networking. I was able to network *without* HomeGroup by using this trick, or just by doing \\{Computer_Name}\. But even when I did that, the network browser (Networking folder) still didn’t kick in and remember these connections.

More importantly, though, HomeGroup is supposed to handle this — for the uninitiated. Even though I was able to network in most cases (accessing Mac from Windows 7, no), HomeGroup did not work no matter what I did. Using the IP address method would be completely circumventing HomeGroup.

The fact that you’re resorting to IP address networking is precisely what’s wrong with Windows peer networking, which, as I’ve written before, is balky. It only works the way it’s supposed to work about 80% of the time.

]]> By: MichaelHorowitz http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/2009/02/01/windows-7-homegroup-not-so-hot-in-beta-1/comment-page-1/#comment-1582 MichaelHorowitz Tue, 03 Feb 2009 03:58:17 +0000 http://blog.scotsnewsletter.com/?p=295#comment-1582 Scot, I find that when Windows networking fails, very often a reference to \\ipaddress will show the shared files/folder on the machine at that IP address. Did you try this with Windows 7? Scot,
I find that when Windows networking fails, very often a reference to \\ipaddress will show the shared files/folder on the machine at that IP address. Did you try this with Windows 7?

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