About Me
My interest in computers began around 1987 at the
time when Amstrad's popular word processing
computer, the Amstrad PCW 9512, was in vogue. Never
having looked at a word processor before, let alone
a personal computer, I was fascinated at how much
faster a job could be done when compared to a
standard typewriter. After purchasing my very own
Amstrad PCW 9512 it wasn't long before I began
contributing to the very popular PCW Plus magazine
published by Future Publishing. The memories still
linger of that faithful first machine.
However, nothing stand still for very long,
particularly in the field of Information Technology.
So, as you can appreciate, it wasn't long before the
old PCW 9512 was passed on to someone else and
replaced by a shiny new Personal Computer.
Tentatively my contributions moved away from PCW
Plus and onto Future Publishing's flagship PC Plus.
This gave me the
opportunity to explore the PC more fully and, in
particular, begin reviewing computer
software. It also opened up other magazine
opportunities with PC Advisor and PC Pro.
At the same time I was also fortunate enough to
begin beta testing software for Microsoft and a few
other software developer's. This was a very
rewarding experience.
Testing these beta products first hand enabled me
to experience the many faults prone to software
currently under development. As I was experiencing
the same faults as others it provided me with the
initiative to join the many newsgroups which
regularly gave practical advice to people who had
problems or else were currently experiencing a
particular problem.
Obviously I slid through Windows Me beta without
experiencing too many major issues, but Windows XP
produced more of the 'bugs' that Microsoft needed to
cure. Once again I scoured the Microsoft Public
Newsgroups and, if I knew the solution to a problem,
I posted the relevant solution. It was due to my
contributions to the newsgroups that in 2002 my
peers put my name forward to the Microsoft Most
Valued Professional Award Program as a possible
candidate for the Microsoft MVP award. It was at
this time that I received my very first Microsoft
MVP Status.
In 2005 I co-authored, along with Curt Simmons,
Alan Simpson and David Dalan, a new addition to the
Windows XP library entitled "Windows XP MVP."
Further details are available from Amazon.com
In October 2015, after 13 years on the MVP
Program, I finally retired from the Microsoft Most
Valued Professional Award Program.
I live in the United Kingdom.
John
Microsoft MVP Alumni 2002-2015
