Praise God we have a new computer. Our last one just died one day. Well, it has been dying a slow death for a while, but it kept working so we though we could make it last to summer. But then it finally wouldn't turn on. Fortunately we got a loner for a bit, and now purchased a new Toshiba from a guy who had picked it up for a friend and then the friend didn't need it. It's pretty good, but it's a Vista box, so I'm having some adjustments. My pet peeves so far are as follows:
Interface change:
Okay, this is actually minor, as I can adjust, but it really irritates me. There are all sorts of things that I've gotten used to Windows doing things a certain way since 98, often with little change even through XP, and now it's totally different with Vista. For instance, with most computers I run msconfig and enable selective startup and start unchecking the 10,000 pre-loaded, processor and memory eating programs I really don't need. Well, it took me 10 minutes to look for the run command. Finally what I did was change the start menu to "Classic View" and used the run command there. I still don't know where the new menu has the run command. I'm sure I'll get over this hurdle, but it really annoys me right now.
Memory Usage:
Major beef here. After I disabled and/or uninstalled lots of junk that comes pre-installed on the computer, the system still uses 700 MB of RAM. Basically, with my current 1Gig RAM setup vs my XP box, I have 1/2 the RAM for practical purposes. I'm pretty sure this is pretty much doo-dad, ease of use, visual effect stuff, of which Vista has lots, and it's very pretty. But I'm a bare bones sort of person. I don't want flashy, I want functional. In fact, an austere operating system is better in my opinion. I have things I'd much rather take up those functions other than these stupid doo-dads. So this practical slowdown of my system really, really irritates me.
Windows Defender:
ARGH! Now, I understand the purpose, something that Microsoft has long been the target for, hacking, etc, is now being dealt with. But it comes at a major frustration to me. Installing something really pretty much looks like this,
I download the program, and run it. Windows defender pops up, and asks if I want to run the program. Here's the dialog that follows.
Me: Yes, of course, I clicked it didn't I?!
Windows Defender: It is trying to change the registry, allow?
Me: YES!
WD: I don't think so, what if it hurts your computer?
Me: It's adobe flash player, Adobe has invested interest in NOT hurting my PC!
WD: No, I think you're a hacker trying to hurt my system.
Me: What? I just bought this thing.
WD: That's exactly what a hacker would say.
Me: Okay, can I disable you?
WD: Hacker detected, police contacted. Put your hands on your head and get down on the ground. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to an attorney, if you do say anything, it can be used against you in a court of law.
Me: Okay, this is like some weird twilight zone bit.
Okay, maybe that's a little over the top, but I'm sure after the first service pack or two, it'll get there. It's seriously beginning to irritate me that I can't even run my own programs without being asked 2 or 3 times.
