Sorted it... now, let's get cracking!
1pm
Right, that worked a treat. I now have my DVD drive showing again in My Computer, superb! Of course, I’m not going to even think of asking why a three year old hack for Microsoft’s last operating system is needed for their new OS which is so spangly and new that the ink hasn’t dried on the disk label yet...
So now I have my DVD drive back, time to install my printer.
This is all going swimmingly well now. Yes, I know that I’m using XP drivers but Vista doesn't seem to mind. In fact, the vast majority of my drivers and my software is for XP with nothing new for Vista but it all appears to be working... except that damn Windows Mobile Device Center beta... Every time I plug in my PDA I get an error message about Windows Service Host stopping or something. I keep hitting the ‘Check for solutions’ button but nothing happens. I have figured out how to remotely shut down Vista though. Just leave the PDA docked after the host services message has popped and Vista will bluescreen about ten minutes later.
Yes, I know it’s beta software but seriously. Active Sync is a Microsoft programme, how come it’s so incompatible with Vista that Vista blocks any attempt to install it? And how come the beta is so unstable it crashes Vista?
I’m starting to think that as nice and spangly Vista is, there’s some major work still needed to be done to make this a viable alternative to XP. Yes, I suppose you could say I’m starting to regret upgrading so soon...
4pm
Right, I’ve now managed to get some work done and I’m starting to actually enjoy Vista. AT a basic level it feels a lot faster than XP. I don’t know why, it just feels smoother and quicker. The integration of Office 2007 into the OS is more complete, everything just gels together better.
That start bar and the program arrangement has become less of a pain, maybe because I’m more used to it and very likely because the most often used programs are starting to populate the start pane.
Organising my files and how I view them has been a bit of a pain though. I like the idea of having a named folder with higher level access than before, so from within my folder I can access my music without having to going into my documents. The same goes for my downloads, videos and pictures etc. Yes I know I could do that from the start menu anyway, but having everything relating to my user account in one easy to access place, regardless of where the files actually are on my multiple drives, is very handy.
IE7 has been superceded by Firefox though. I tried, I really did, but IE7 just feels too woolly and, er, spongy, compared to Firefox. Also, IE7 seriously has some really stupid flaws that I just can’t be bothered to try and sort out. Such as those damn favourite buttons, right where I’d like my tabs to start. Try as I might I can’t shift ‘em! And what’s with the RSS feeds? Why the hell do I have to navigate away from the page I’m viewing to view my feeds? Gah.
Right, now I seem to have a stable Vista system time to get on and see what it can do...
