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
