NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, June 2004
The Intel PC User Group Website
http://www.intel.com/go/pcug/
“A portal to a wealth of information”
by Steve Peyrot
APCUG Treasurer & Board of Advisors – Region 13
Vendor Relations Director – East Tennessee Computer Society
Peyrots@bellsouth.net (click to email author)


We members of user group communities throughout North America have a tremendous resource within a few simple keystrokes as we surf the internet. This resource is the web site developed by Intel® for the purpose of educating and facilitating the transfer of highly desired information into the hands of PC User Group members.

Let’s face it, every one of us wake each day with more and newer technologies being developed and introduced so rapidly that it’s quite a challenge to keep up. As user group members we are continually challenged not only with knowing about new technologies for our own use but also because many folks within our circle of acquaintances, colleagues at work, neighbors, and other members of the community rely on our expertise and knowledge to assist them with numerous hardware and software issues.

The web site that I will be discussing with you has been developed by our partners at Intel to assist us in tackling our everyday challenges through a vast portal of information and knowledge. They have always realized the importance of user groups and are providing us this repository of information and support. Follow me over the next few minutes as we tour The Intel PC User Group landing page.

The Home Area
When a user logs in to the Intel PC User Group page for the first time, it does not look like there is much there, being so unobtrusive and uncluttered. However, once the user begins his journey through the few pull-down menu tabs that are easily accessible at the top of the screen, it becomes clear just how much information is available on this web site.

From the home area, a number of pull-down menus and some single items are available to the user. The first thing I would recommend to every user is that they look on the left side of the page and click on the area that allows the user to sign up for the Intel® Tech Wire, an email formatted newsletter delivered free on a regular basis with a wide variety of the latest personal computing information. The information delivered includes product information, articles and information on customizing your PC and maximizing your PC experience, application software, recent news, tools and resources, technology trends, human interest stories, and much more.

Just above the area for signing up for Tech Wire is PC User Group Tools. This is an area that expands out and is where a user group officer can order and schedule one of Intel's "Seminars-in-a-Backpack," or anyone can download some of the best Intel seminar materials available to user groups. Complete PDF presentations and associated materials are available to download free of charge. I would recommend that users check this area out at least once a quarter for the newest subjects and tools available.

Finally on the main home page of The Intel PC User Group Web Site are the centralized main menu pull down tabs conveniently located along the top center of the page. These menu tabs contain tremendous amount of information, neatly compiled and sorted into five simple categories. Let us briefly go through each of these pull-down tabs in sequential order:

Resource Centers
The Resource Centers link sends the user to an area where they can easily access usable information on Personal Computing, Business and Enterprise, Hardware Design, Software Development and the Intel Reseller Center. For example, under the Personal Computing Center, there are tools to help you find the right notebook or the right desktop system for you, learn how to build your own PC from Intel-validated, quality components, and compare performance of various processors. And that's just one of the Resource Centers!

Products and Services
The menu tab for Product and Services leads the user to an area that lists just about every Intel product there is. Here one will find information about motherboards, processors, memory, flash cards, adapters, chipsets, controllers, servers, software, mobile, media centers, and so much more. This area also provides links to highly requested information such as The Intel Processor Roadmap; a vision into the future of processing technologies. When visiting Products and Services, I can highly recommend exploring the Intel SOFTWARE COLLEGE accessible through the “Software” tab. Some of the best training resources available worldwide are found by following this link!

Solutions
The Solutions web page is a very informative area specializing in hardware, software, services, and tools. This area provides information and answers for a variety of solutions for business needs and technical challenges. Here one can find answers and solutions from not only Intel but from other third party providers. Listed also in this area are announcements of seminars and developer conferences or forums. This is the optimal resource to locate solutions and answers.

Technologies and Trends
This web site area is certainly one of my favorites; I could stay logged on here for a long time! Here, you can dive into the Intel Technology Journal, read the Technology @ Intel Magazine, find out about the latest research and development news, catch up on the latest developments involving wireless technologies, the digital home, digital media adaptors, Intel processors with Hyper-Threading™ technology, and much more. In a nutshell, if someone wants to know the latest information regarding any of the newest technologies, this web page is the place to come first.

Support and Downloads
Last but certainly not least is the Support and Downloads page. If you have a product with the name Intel on it, chances are that you will find complete information, product support, and a host of software drivers and patches. This web page also provides product information and technical research support regarding a wide array of Intel products.

This web site provides complete support for motherboards, notebook products, processors, network cards, communication products, graphic cards, chipsets, controllers, flash memory, pc cameras, and many other pc accessories. This area of the web site is of significant value to all us owners of Intel products. The high level of support available on this web site clearly exemplifies the commitment by Intel Corporation to its users.

As we close, I want to invite you to log on to http://www.intel.com/go/pcug and explore the areas I have mentioned plus the dozens more I have not had the space to discuss in this article. Our main philosophy as user group members is for users to help other users, so we are very fortunate to have a company such as Intel support our User Groups the way they do and provide us with so many resources and so much information. At Intel's user group support site, Intel stands ready to help us in this quest of educating our communities and furthering our knowledge into the future.

Article Copyright © 2004 ETCS.
Permission for reprint granted to other APCUG member User Groups worldwide provided a PDF copy (or a link to an online version) of the respective publication is provided by email to: http://www.vendor@etcs.org .

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author. The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.

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