The Failed Computer Blues: The Underground Commences With the Vista Bashing
By Tom Chandler on Jan 28, 2008 in Writing
I haven’t forgotten you, my little Undergrounders. Sure, I haven’t posted anything useful lately, but one look at my to-do list would suggest why.
The snow is piling up by the metric ton, the snowblower is feigning death, the clients are calling, and yes — the old desktop PC has been dead in the water and threatening to go belly up at any time.
Still, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. So when life hands you a dying desktop PC, you make a shiny new PC.
This one’s a nice, fast, big 17" Dell Inspiron laptop, and suddenly, every room with a view is my office, an excellent idea when your new house offers treetop (and mountain) views out most windows.
Excuse me while I enjoy the view. Thanks.
All of which means I’m back in the game, and pretty happy about it.
Sadly, my enthusiasm doesn’t extend to Vista, the operating system which came on my new laptop.
I now believe Vista isn’t really an operating system as much as an elaborate practical joke played on us by Microsoft.
In fact, it’s likely the company’s employees are collectively hiding behind the couch, waiting for April Fools to roll around, when they’ll jump up and yell "gotcha!"
It’s enough to make a guy buy a Mac or go with Linux, and I understand more and more folks are doing exactly that.
In the meantime, I plan to write like the wind, even though winter is a dark, leaden time when my brain feels thick and the words flow slowly. (I’d love to know how everyone else feels about winter.)
I’ve got a couple posts on tap, so stay tuned. And keep writing, Tom Chandler.
Ah, there you are Tom.
There is a handy setting somewhere in Vista that takes the menus back to the way they looked in XP. Works for me on my home machine.
I’m still trying to navigate documents though, and so I’ve lately switched to google docs instead.
Intuitive means; applying what people already know to the new. So if you think Microsoft stuffed that up, just wait till you see the new version of Office!
Good luck
Matt
matt lambert | Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
Welcome back, hombre.
I feel your pain with Vista. In December (or was it November?), I went in search of a new laptop myself. What I wanted was a Mac. Second choice was a sleek HP. What I got was a nice, nifty, low-priced Dell.
And I got the Dell specifically because it was the only laptop I could get with WinXP. I hunted high and low for other brands with WinXP, but nope. Dell it was.
Honestly? I’m quite happy. Cheap is good. Dell doesn’t seem to be the crap it used to be (though I predict it will be within a year). And why spend more when you can do the same job with less?
And less Vista, too ;)
James Chartrand - Web Content Writer Tips | Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
Well - Vista is the reason I bought a mac, after 15 years using PCs - and I couldn’t be happier!
Rich | Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
Acer on Vista here, but looking for the drivers to “upgrade” to XP. the drivers and the time.
Sunny Daydreame | Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
After mucking around with Vista for a while, I wonder why I didn’t give Ubuntu Linux a try. I pretty much run my business on Thunderbird, Firefox and Open Office already (plus a few Web apps).
I might try Linux on my old (slow) laptop just to see what happens. Worst case scenario is I wipe the drive and reinstall XP…
As for the new “ribbonized” version of Word, I’ve seen it, played with it, and didn’t much like it.
Tom Chandler | Jan 28, 2008 | Reply
I hate winter and January is the worst of it. My writing seemed to consist of anti-winter rants and wondering why my family moved from a village in Northern Greece to the cold Canadian climate.
And Vista must be a joke.
alexsandra | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply
Vista’s pop up security alerts make me want to tear my hair out. The new MS office is just as bad.
*shrugs* I have to type to eat, so…what can I do lol.
Connie | Feb 5, 2008 | Reply