Suggested FAQ/Sticky: IBM/ThinkVantage Software Guide

[matt_garman]

I started a thread the other day, dealing with the time it takes my TP to establish a wireless connection. That problem took me down the path of messing with the included IBM Thinkpad software, and now I have a more general problem: what software do I really need?

From the thread IBM Included software and PC performance:

...But in the case of my T43, 90% of the utilities are really an extension of the hardware capabilities. The utilities control the hardware. I need 'em. I use 'em. A T40 I use at work (test box) without 'em is really hard to configure without 'em. (Interesting learning experience: seeing which utilities are really, really vital.)
...
Tthere have been several very good and informative threads in the T40 forum about what utilities do what and what you can do without. For my money, on a test machine, I have the FN key utility, Scroll Lock indicator, Thinkpad Configuration, ACPI driver and Power Manager. EasyEject is probably a must-have. That covers 90% of what I need on a bare minimum system.

I won't get upset if anyone calls me lazy , but it takes quite a bit of effort to comb through all the threads to try and understand what one might need and what one can do without (same goes for actually installing/uninstalling all the different packages). In the quote above, why are those various programs needed? I think that everyone will have a different mix of the IBM software to meet their needs.

So, I thought it would be nice if there was a sticky or FAQ item that summarized all the IBM ThinkVantage software: a sentence or two about what each program does, and another brief statement about why you might want this program (what does it give you that Windows doesn't, or what does it do better than Windows). For example: Program1: "if you want this particular piece of hardware to work, you must have this program installed."; Program2: "while Windows has functionality to do this, this program does it faster". And so on.

It would also be nice to know which programs supercede others, and/or are deprecated. E.g., this thread seems to say that the Power MaxiMiser program has been replaced by Power Manager.

FWIW, I've run only Linux for nearly the last decade, so I can't tell where Windows stops and IBM's software begins. But, for anyone who's ever configured a Linux kernel by hand, we're increasingly spoiled by module documentation that says things such as: "If you don't have such-and-such hardware, you don't need this", or "if you don't know what [some esoteric concept] is, you don't need this", or even, "almost everyone needs this---if in doubt, include it."

Just a thought!
Matt

[JaneL]

So, I thought it would be nice if there was a sticky or FAQ item that summarized all the IBM ThinkVantage software: a sentence or two about what each program does, and another brief statement about why you might want this program (what does it give you that Windows doesn't, or what does it do better than Windows). For example: Program1: "if you want this particular piece of hardware to work, you must have this program installed."; Program2: "while Windows has functionality to do this, this program does it faster". And so on.

It would also be nice to know which programs supercede others, and/or are deprecated. E.g., this thread seems to say that the Power MaxiMiser program has been replaced by Power Manager.

That would be great! Everything here is produced by volunteers. Perhaps several of you could join forces to put a FAQ on the ThinkVantage software together. We'll be glad to review and post it. Preliminary work on it could be done in this thread.

[kstuart]

I started a thread similar to this one only a few weeks ago.

I think that if this had been proposed in 2003-2005, there would have been a number of people who would have gladly spent an evening hashing it out.

But now since the Lenovo takeover, there seems to be somewhat less enthusiasm.

There is also not much support for the idea of spelling things out for newbies, since all of the participants are the ones who spent hours reading threads, or trying endless combinations themselves on their Thinkpads.

[JaneL]

There is also not much support for the idea of spelling things out for newbies, since all of the participants are the ones who spent hours reading threads, or trying endless combinations themselves on their Thinkpads.

I don't know that it's true that there's not much support for it. I certainly support it, however, I have no intention of writing this particular FAQ since 1) I'm up to my eyeballs in responsibilities at work and at home and 2) I have zero interest in the topic. For those reasons, I would make a very, very bad job of it.

There are, however, a number of people in the forum who are interested in the topic, and I'm just encouraging them to join together to contribute to a FAQ on the subject. Or on any ThinkPad-related subject, for that matter.

[christopher_wolf]

There is also not much support for the idea of spelling things out for newbies, since all of the participants are the ones who spent hours reading threads, or trying endless combinations themselves on their Thinkpads.

I don't know that it's true that there's not much support for it. I certainly support it, however, I have no intention of writing this particular FAQ since 1) I'm up to my eyeballs in responsibilities at work and at home and 2) I have zero interest in the topic. For those reasons, I would make a very, very bad job of it.

There are, however, a number of people in the forum who are interested in the topic, and I'm just encouraging them to join together to contribute to a FAQ on the subject. Or on any ThinkPad-related subject, for that matter.

I agree with Nonny on this, such a FAQ would be a good idea.

If you could put together a draft of it and make some recommendations, that would be great.

[Kyocera]

I think that if this had been proposed in 2003-2005, there would have been a number of people who would have gladly spent an evening hashing it out.

But now since the Lenovo takeover, there seems to be somewhat less enthusiasm.

There is also not much support for the idea of spelling things out for newbies

One thing to think about is the software is constantly changing, it's hard to pin down specifics for every situation, machine, configuration etc.

Things are constantly being suggested for this forum, submitted, reviewed, and put out in the form of sticky's or faq's, dsvochaks HD cloning is the most recent, and is getting ready for final. It will be a great help for newbies and was specifically put together with them in mind. This is one example. Don't find reasons not to do it, at least give it a try. Keep it simple.

[tfflivemb2]

I agree with Kyocera. Look at the differences from one version of Access Connections to the next.

I mean we, as a group, can do like the initial thread discussed about creating a chart of sorts just listing the primary functions of each of the these programs, but the work arounds and other tidbits would just go on forever.