March 20, 2007

Surprising View.

I am hesitant to write this blog entry for a couple of reasons. First of all, it’s about the geeky subject of computers, and some looking for some beefcake shots may find that boring. Perhaps I should pose with the computer naked or something. Secondly, and this is the primary reason I was hesitant about writing this, I’m talking about the latest incarnation of Microsoft Windows and that would be: Windows Vista.

Where oh where has the Mac fan boy gone?

In our large stable of computers in our Macinhouse, we do have one relatively new HP Pavilion laptop computer. We purchased this back when I started school so that I would be able to keep up with my civil engineering drafting assignments, and remain compatible with my teachers and peers since Microsoft Word for Mac can occasionally get a little wonky when trying to convert to the PC platform.

Since we bought the PC during the “Vista is coming any minute” time frame, we were offered a free upgrade to Windows Vista Home Premium. The CD arrived while we were away.

The upgrade process was rather painful as I got several “blue screens of death” on my “Windows Vista Capable” computer. I finally just backed up my documents and wiped the hard drives completely and started from scratch.

I hate to say this but I really like Windows Vista. It’s a smarter, better looking version of Windows XP and believe it or not, there are some things that it does better than Mac OS X. (I didn’t think Windows Calendar would trump iCal, but I like it better and find it a little more intuitive to use.)

There were some drawbacks to the upgrade: my virus protection software is not compatible and there’s a few programs that complain about not knowing what Vista is, but on the whole I’m rather enjoying my Vista experience. And I’m surprised by this.

I no longer feel guilty because I’m ignoring this brand new school laptop. I’m rather enjoying it now.