So I ditched the full beta test setup I had.  Running Vista, IE7, Office 2007, WMP11 and so on – all in one level of beta or another – was a real performance drag.

So I’m back to Windows XP and Office 2003, though I did elect to keep IE7 beta 3.  Performance on a pure beta OS/App setup was just too much to wait around for.  And my machine is no slouch either – but that is why its called beta software.  Get the bugs out first then optimize for performance.

Now on the flip side, this should not reflect on the feature set or stability of all the beta software run together.  Yes there was the occasional app shut-down, but I never had Vista crash.  For that matter, I can count on one hand how many times I’ve had Windows XP crash in the past five years – no lie.  If anyone’s interestedin that fact, I can write about it another time – simple computing practices are involved.

Again, the functionality of the next generation of OS and software will stun the average person.  The neatest stuff is simply the fit & finish of the interfaces.  While Vista and Office 2007 probably won’t get the kudos that it deserves, but it is truly stunning and makes huge inroads into ease of use.
Yeah, Microsoft is a great company to “hate” if that’s your bag baby.  But the fact of the matter is that without a giant evil empire like MS to sling mud at, you wouldn’t have the fierce competition that we have in the market – yes I’m not kidding.  Just look at the options at the consumer electronics stores that you can get – Windows, Mac, and Linux systems everywhere.

So in short, I’m glad to have a faster computing experience back!  I’ll be plotting my next PC purchase later this year to support my Vista fixation.  I’ll write about that later – probably be a full house upgrade as both my wife and I need new systems, and both the kids as well.  Ugh, the price tag won’t be pretty, but the end-result will :).

~Later~